A Multicolored Weave
by Snakequeen-in-Norway
Summary: A long time in coming, the promised sequel to Bound With Silver Threads! This story follows Lorcan and Lysander Scamander and my OCs from BWST, Bryan and Aaron, as well as a cast of friends old and new as they navigate the second half of their Hogwarts years.
1. In Sync

**Author's Note: Yes, it's true, I am finally,** _ **finally**_ **writing the sequel to** _ **Bound With Silver Threads**_ **that I promised all of you. I know it's been way too long, but I was working on finishing my in-progress fics so that I could focus on this as my final fanfic before transitioning fully to working on my original stories. That was until I started reading** _ **Supernatural**_ **fanfiction and my traitorous brain decided that it simply had to provide me with a compelling new** _ **Supernatural**_ **plot. But for that story I've gone back to my old method of longhand drafting, so that I can work on it when I don't have my computer and I can split times when I do have my computer between this story and an original I'm working on. Except for when I'm ready to type the SPN fic of course, but that's not the hard part. I'm going to try to stay a couple chapters ahead of this story, but the life of a performer is rather nebulous, so bear with me. Thank you so much to all of you who read and reviewed Bound With Silver Threads, and inspired me to write this sequel. If you haven't read it, do read it first! Seriously, you won't know who half the main characters of this story are if you don't. *Waits for newcomers to read BWST* Alright, now read on!**

 **-SQ**

 **Disclaimer: rettoP yrraH nwo ton od I**

 **Chapter One: In Sync**

Bump bump bump. Lorcan and Lysander Scamander dragged their trunks up the steps of the Hogwarts Express, deposited them in the first available compartment, and bounded back down the stairs again to give their parents a hug and kiss goodbye. At thirteen years old, the twins found nothing odd or embarrassing in this display of familial affection, and if they noticed the stares and sniggers of a few of their year mates, which was doubtful, they chose to ignore them.

Lorcan and Lysander had returned to their chosen compartment and had just stowed their luggage properly on the racks when two more boys appeared in the doorway, dragging their own trunks behind them.

"Morning," said the taller boy, whose short, black hair was slicked back with gel. "Give me a hand with my trunk, will you, Ly?"

Lysander helped the newcomer lift his trunk onto the luggage rack, while Lorcan assisted his friend, who still looked half asleep. That task accomplished, the four boys sat down together, Lorcan and Lysander on one side of the table and Aaron and Bryan, which happened to be the names of the other two members of the company, on the other.

"I see Cassie," announced the shorter newcomer, seeming to wake up slightly as he stuck his brown, slightly curly head out of the compartment window.

"Where? Let me see!"

"Ow," protested the curly-haired boy. The aforementioned gel sporting young man had accidentally elbowed his best friend in the rib in his eagerness to catch sight of the blonde on the platform. The two younger blondes already inside the compartment prudently decided that when the girl boarded the train in a few minutes would be soon enough to see her. Of course, it wasn't only Cassiopeia Malfoy that the twins' companions were on the lookout for.

"Lily! Lily!"

The blonde girl's companion, a redheaded young woman, past the attendance age for Hogwarts, though only just, looked around for the source of the commotion.

"Aaron, if you lean any farther out of that window, you're going to fall out," she said, laughing and approaching the train. She let go of Cassie's hand to clasp Aaron's and Bryan's.

"You guys only saw us two days ago," said Cassie, shaking her head. "Surely you can't miss us yet!" 

"Wanna bet?" said Bryan.

"Aren't you excited to be going back to Hogwarts?" said Lily

"Duh!" said Aaron expressively as the other boy nodded. "Are you sad not to be?"

"Yes and no," said Lily. "I'll miss it, but I'm ready to move on."

"Will you miss us?"

"Occasionally," said Lily teasingly. "Are Lor and Ly with you?"

Bryan's affirmative response was lost to the train's whistle

"Aaron, let go of Lily so she can say goodbye to Cassie," said Bryan, elbowing his friend, perhaps in recompense for the blow he had received minutes prior.

Aaron pouted over-dramatically but acquiesced, and Lily Potter pulled her girlfriend into a tight hug. "I'll miss you," she said, blinking back tears. It was silly, she knew, but she and Cassiopeia hadn't been separated for this long since they had met each other four years ago.

"I'll miss you too," said the blonde with a smile, kissing Lily's cheek. "You'll write me?"

"Only if you write me."

Cassie raised a very Malfoy-esque eyebrow. "But of course."

The whistle blew again.

"Cassie," hollered the twins from inside the compartment. "You're going to miss the train!"

Laughing her signature bell-like laugh, the youngest Malfoy disentangled herself from the youngest Potter and skipped up the steps of the scarlet steam engine, throwing a last wave over her shoulder as she went.

"How was the rest of your summer, Cassie?" asked Lorcan and Lysander, who had not seen the oldest member of the group quite so recently, as the girl entered the compartment and situated her trunk and owl on the luggage rack.

"It was good, thanks" said Cassie, smiling at the third years. "I spent most of it with Lily."

"She has her own flat now, right?" said Lorcan and Lysander simultaneously, as was their wont, while Aaron made a suggestive gesture, which earned him another elbow in the ribs from Bryan.

Cassie nodded. "Yes, she's a flat in Diagon Alley and starting up an apothecary business geared toward pet care."

"Awesome."

"How about you?" queried Cassie, tucking her feet up under her on the seat beside Bryan. "How was, Brazil, was it?"

"Yep," said the twins. "It was great. Mum and Dad discovered a new breed of acrumantula."

"Eugh," said Bryan, shuddering and making a face. "Remind me never to go to Brazil."

Cassie, Aaron and the twins laughed, though not unkindly.

"It's not funny," protested Bryan. "Have you ever _seen_ an acromantula?"

"Yes," said Lorcan and Lysander. "Have you?"

"Nope," said Bryan. "Thank Merlin. And I don't want to!"

"We have pictures."

"What do you have pictures of, your cocks?"

"Jenny!"

The most recent arrival slid into the seat beside the Scamanders, ducking to avoid their twin slaps. She was a petite third year with a round face, long jet black hair streaked with purple, and an attitude which far surpassed her stature.

"Can I see?" she said teasingly, waggling her thick eyebrows suggestively at the twins. "The pictures or the real things, I'm not picky."

"No, you cannot," said the twins emphatically.

Jenny Edgecombe sighed and shrugged in a 'what can you do' kind of way. "A girl can dream. So what are you boys up to besides sharing dick pics?"

"We were _not_ sharing dick pics," said Lorcan and Lysander. "Seriously, where do you even come up with this stuff? We were discussing our summer vacations."

"Yawn," said Jenny. "Soooo predictable."

"If you find us so boring, then why do you hang out with us?" said Aaron, raising an eyebrow.

"Because you're _less_ boring than the rest of the bozos at this school," said Jenny with another shrug. "Has the trolley come by yet? I'm famished."

*****AMW*****

Several hours (and several pasties) later, the scarlet steam engine chugged to a stop at Hogsmead Station, and her adolescent passengers jostled their way out of the doors and over to the "horseless" carriages in which they would complete their journey back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Lorcan, Lysander, and their friends watched contentedly through the carriage window as the castle grew larger, the light from the Great Hall winking welcomingly at them through the dusky twilight.

The six students vacated the slightly cramped carriage, Jenny, Aaron, and Bryan jostling a bit while the others descended more sedately. Jenny took the opportunity to slap Lorcan on the ass as he passed her

"Hey!" protested Lorcan.

"Hey!" said Lysander.

"Geez," said Aaron, shaking his head. "You really are one person, aren't you?"

The twins were saved the trouble of replying by the group's entrance into the Great Hall.

"Look," said Jenny, pointing. "The first years are already here. Bets on which one will wet their pants."

"Don't be cruel, Jenny," admonished Cassie. "It's scary being up there being judged in front of the whole school.

"Especially for a muggleborn," said Bryan. "Which reminds me, Aaron, we have an obligation to fulfill to Cassie and Lily."

"That you do," Cassiopeia agreed

"Right!" said Aaron, snapping his fingers. "But how do we choose just one? They're all so adorable!"

"What's this conspiracy you two're going on about?" asked Jenny suspiciously, looking from Cassie to Bryan to Aaron with narrowed eyes.

"When we were first years, Lily and Cassie kind of took us under their wings," said Bryan. "Like Hogwarts big sisters."

"Yeah, I know that," said Jenny. "What's your point?"

"My point is that you should respect your elders," said Aaron, earning himself an eye roll from the third year. "No, we promised them we'd do the same for another first year. Kind of continue the legacy."

"Ugh," said Jenny, making a face and shaking her head. "Better you than me. First years are just so…eleven." With this brilliant comment, Jenny followed Lorcan and Lysander to the Ravenclaw table, leaving the three Gryffindors to their observation of the first years. Which wasn't as creepy as it sounded, really.

*****AMW*****

"Oof!" said Lorcan, flopping down on his four-poster later that evening.

Lysander responded as though his brother had asked a question, which, as far as he was concerned, he had. "Nope, no new classes tomorrow." Somehow all of their new subjects had ended up on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

"Seems a bit unbalanced if you ask me," said Lorcan, though Lysander hadn't mentioned the Tuesday/Thursday scheduling out loud.

"You're a bit unbalanced," said Lysander.

Lorcan gave him a look and the twins burst out laughing as, of course, the one twin _was_ unbalanced on his own.

They were still laughing when their year-mate, Nicholas Belby, entered the dormitory. Nicholas gave them a weird look and preceded to unpack his trunk. Unfazed by his attitude, Lorcan and Lysander sat up on their beds and greeted him in a friendly, if a little unsettling due to their renewed synchronization, manner.

"Hi Nicholas, nice summer?"

"Uh-huh," said Nicholas non-committally.

"What'd you do? Anything cool?"

"Not really. Normal summer stuff. You know it's weird when you talk like that, right? All at the same time and stuff."

"We know."

"Okay."

The dormitory lapsed into silence again. The silence didn't last very long, however, as seven more boys soon filled the dormitory, entering in groups of two or three at a time. Lorcan and Lysander's year was a big one. Lorcan and Lysander were neither the most nor the least popular in it, and that suited them just fine. Most people thought they were a little odd, but quite nice once you got to know them, and they had enough older friends to back them up if they ever got into trouble. Not that they needed them; the twins had a more playful vein to their whimsy than their mother had, and a more proactive one. If you ran afoul of the Scamander twins you were liable to find your charms notebook mysteriously full of Shakespearen quotations or a box of wildflowers blooming in your windowsill. These pranks were so good natured that the recipients couldn't even really complain about them, and were left baffled both as to the reasoning behind such an act and the logistics of accomplishing it. This amused the twins (and their friends) immensely, and in their opinion more than made up for whatever the other student had done to merit their attention in the first place. Because honestly, it took a pretty special human being to hold the twins' attention for long. They were just as likely, if not more, to be found conversing intently with an animal or a plant or carrying on an animated one-sided dialogue with a book as taking to an actual person. As for each other, they hardly needed words to know what the other was thinking or feeling, so talking became fairly superfluous, at least in any form that would have been intelligible to anyone else.

One by one, the ten third-year Ravenclaw boys changed into their pajamas and settled into their beds, some falling asleep right away while others read books or wrote in journals or whispered quietly to their neighbors. The noise level in the dormitory gradually fell from a dull roar to a quiet murmur and then silence, broken only by slow, even breathing and the occasional snore as one by one the room's occupants drifted off into dreamland. Lorcan and Lysander were two of the last to fall asleep, and when they did it was with their hands clasped between their pushed-together four-posters, as they had fallen asleep nearly every night for the past thirteen-and-a-half years.

*****AMW*****

The twins' internal clock woke them promptly at six-thirty a.m. the next morning. The September sunlight was just beginning to make its way through the cracks in the window blinds and outside the birds were already singing a cheerful good morning chorus to greet the new day. The twins loved mornings. The whole day lay before them, full of infinite possibilities. And today those possibilities included their first day of classes as third year students. No one else in the dormitory was awake yet. Lorcan and Lysander changed quickly from their matching pajamas into their matching school robes and left the dormitory, not in the conventional manner by using the door, but rather through the window, scrambling over the sill and onto the castle roof. Later in the year the twins would be able to watch the sunrise from here, though then they would also need coats.

"Mmhm," nodded Lysander, in response to his twin's unspoken opinion that there was no sunrise quite like a Hogwarts sunrise. It wasn't better than any other sunrise exactly, but it was special. All the more so because the majority of the people in a position to appreciate it were asleep when it happened. Though not all of them, Lorcan noted, directing his brother's wandering attention to the large figure of Hagrid lumbering through his garden on the far side of the Hogwarts grounds, accompanied by his wolfhound Claw, a descendent of the dog of the same breed who had been his companion during the twins' mother's schooldays.

 _We should visit Hagrid_ , the twins agreed. And as there were still two hours until their first class was due to start, they rose to their feet, climbed back through the dormitory window, threw their navy blue corduroy bookbags over their shoulders, and made the first of what was sure to be many trips from Ravenclaw Tower down and across to the wooden hut which housed the Hogwarts gamekeeper/Care of Magical Creatures professor and his dog.

"Lorcan! Lysander! It's good ter see yeh," said Hagrid, looking up from his pumpkins and catching sight of the toe-headed twins striding across the grass toward him. Claw gave a gleeful bark and closed the distance between him and the boys in a single bound, greeting his young friends with muddy paws on their shoulders and slobbery doggy kisses across their cheeks.

Laughing, the Scamander twins hugged the wolfhound and kissed his ears, and by the time the dog had lowered himself back onto all fours and managed to contain his excitement within the bounds of a frantically wagging tail, Hagrid stood in front of them.

"It's good to see you too, Hagrid," said the twins, wiping dog drool off their faces with the sleeves of their robes. "How have you been? Any interesting new creatures to share with us?" They added eagerly. One of the things Hagrid and the twins had instantly bonded over was their mutual love for interesting and unusual creatures.

"I was going ter save 'em for a surprise during class," said Hagrid, an excited gleam coming into his eye. "But I might as well show 'em to yer now, seeing as yer here." He motioned for them to follow him with one garbage-can-lid-sized hand and the three magical creature enthusiasts picked their way through the pumpkin patch and around to the other side of Hagrid's hut.

The creatures standing inside the recently-erected enclosure lifted their feathered heads and blinked their yellow eyes balefully at the Scamander twins. The beast closest to them, a tawny creature with a white chest and tail, stamped a feathered hoof on the ground either in greeting or in warning, it wasn't clear which.

"Hippogriffs!" cried the twins excitedly, their pale eyes lighting up as though Christmas had come early.

"Hippogriffs," said Hagrid in cheery affirmation. "They're finally letting me teach 'em again. With the proper precautions, o' course."

Lorcan and Lysander didn't seem to be too concerned with the 'proper precautions.' They were already approaching the enclosure, eyes locked on their Hippogriffs of choice.

"Now boys," said Hagrid, "you should really wait 'til class … Well all righ', but don' go around telling the other students I've given you preferential treatment, now."

The Scamanders nodded, not taking their eyes from the majestic beasts in front of them as they unlatched the gate and advanced, slowly…slowly…into the enclosure. Lorcan had locked eyes with the tawny hippogriff at the front, which was gazing back at him with an almost lazy expression on its face. Lysander's gaze was directed slightly farther back, at a small, black hippogriff which was standing a ways away from the others and regarding the newcomers with cautious curiosity. As one, the boys bowed, bending low at the waist without blinking or taking their eyes from the animals in front of them. They waited. One beat. Two. The tawny hippogriff ruffled its wings and then slowly, lazily, sunk to its scaly knees. Lorcan grinned and reached out a hand to stroke the snowy feathers on the beast's chest.

Lysander was still maintaining eye contact with the small, black hippogriff. He knew he should back away, but maybe if he waited just one second longer…

"Midnight's young, Lysander," said Hagrid. "No more'n a baby, really. Don' be surprised if she doesn' bow, even ter yeh. She's still getting' used ter bein' aroun' people; I'm not planning on using her in tomorrow's lesson."

Lysander sighed and was about to give the filly up as a lost cause, when the hoof that had been pawing the ground stilled and first one scaly knee and then the other bent and lowered Midnight's front quarters briefly, awkwardly to the ground.

Hagrid whistled. "Yeh've got yer grandfather's knack with creatures, that's for sure," said Hagrid. "Yeh can pet 'er now, but be gentle. She's still skittish."

Lysander reached out a long-fingered hand and touched the feathers on the young hippogriff's head. She butted her head against his hand like a cat. Lysander's grin was even bigger than his brother's. "She likes me."

"So she does. Maybe I'll use her in the lesson after all, have you help me with the demonstration."

"What about me?" demanded Lorcan.

"Well, yeh can help too, o' course," said Hagrid. "Can't have one o' yeh without the other, can we? Wouldn' be natural. Seems like you get along well with Tiger, there. He's a good one. Good stock. 'is dam was Buckbeak's half sister." Buckbeak the Hippogriff had passed away several years before the twins were born, but his name was legendary among the decedents of the former members of Dumbledore's Army.

Suddenly Lorcan started.

"We've got to get to Transfiguration," translated Lysander.

"Of course," said Hagrid, shooing them back toward the castle. "Don't let me make you late on your first day."

"We'll see you in class," said the twins, waving over their shoulders at Hagrid as they took off at a brisk jog across the grounds.

Lorcan and Lysander joined the rest of the Ravenclaw third years right outside of the Transfiguration classroom.

"There you two are," said Jenny, looking them up and down with a critical eye. "Where have you been?"

"Hagrid's," they said, accepting the buttered toast she held out to them. "Thanks, you're a life saver."

"I know. So, what does Hagrid have planned for us tomorrow? Anything exciting?"

"What makes you think we know?"

"Oh come on, Hagrid loves you, he probably gave you a private lesson already."

"Even if he did, we would have promised not to tell," said the twins.

"I brought you toast!" protested Jenny, loudly enough to earn her a couple odd looks from the Gryffindors sitting closest to them. "Come on," she said in a quieter voice, "spill."

"Shhh," said Lorcan and Lysander, holding their forefingers up to their lips. "Class is starting."

 **AN: And there's the first chapter. Please let me know what you thought about my versions of these characters' return to the computer screen (or smartphone screen, I read a lot of fanfiction on my phone) And if you're a fan of** _ **Supernatural**_ **, keep an eye out for that fic showing up soon as well** __ **;)**

 **-SQ**


	2. A Season of Firsts

**Author's Note: Hey, so I'm trying to pace this so I never actually run out of written chapters, which is difficult when I've only written about a quarter of a chapter since my last update, but I figured it was time to give you this chapter before you all got bored and forgot that this story was a thing, lol. And yes, the chapter title is a line from the stage version of** _ **Jersey Boys**_ **.**

 **-SQ**

 **Disclaimer: Should surprise no one**

 **Chapter Two: A Season of Firsts**

Hogwarts without Lily was strange. Cassiopeia had plenty to keep her occupied, certainly, between classes and friends and writing letters home to her parents, Scorpius, and Lily. Cassiopeia was a dedicated and thorough letter writer, detailing the news she knew would be of the most interest to each person. Her classes were going well. Her year mates had not reverted to torturing her the moment Lily was no longer there to protect her. A couple people, boys and girls, had tried to hit on her or asked her a little too innocently if she and Lily were still together, but she had shaken her head and waved them off in no uncertain terms, though not unkindly. She signed the letter to Lily and pressed a sparkly pink kiss to the parchment before casting a quick spell to make the ink dry and rolling it up. Gathering the other two letters, she left the library and set off for the owlery to send to send them before breakfast.

*****AMCW*****

Aaron, too, was on his way to the owlery, detouring there from the Gryffindor common room on his own way down to breakfast. He was lost in his own world, or more precisely a mental image of Gregory Bones's butt, when he ran smack into a smaller body.

"Oops!" said Aaron, steadying the younger boy with his hands on his shoulders. "Sorry about that, wasn't looking where I was going. You okay?"

The child nodded, a single, sharp jerk of his strawberry blonde head.

"I'm Aaron," said Aaron, sticking out his hand.

The boy blinked owlishly at Aaron's manicured fingers for a few seconds before taking them momentarily with a delicate grip. "Oliver."

"Nice to meet you," said Aaron. "Or bump into you, I guess I should say. Sorry about that. Again." He laughed. "What year are you? First?"

Oliver nodded again.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. How are you liking it so far?"

Oliver shrugged. "It's good, I guess. Big. The stairs keep changing."

Aaron laughed again. "Yeah, they do that. You get used to it, but I know the first couple weeks can be a challenge. If you don't mind taking a detour to the owlery I can walk with you to the Great Hall. I wouldn't want you to get lost and miss breakfast."

"Thanks," said Oliver, "but I think I've got it."

Aaron shrugged, but didn't push it. "Alright. See you around then, maybe."

"Yeah. Maybe."

 _Weird kid_ , thought Aaron with a mental shrug, and set off again toward the owlery. He didn't want to miss breakfast either.

*****AMCW*****

"Fancy meeting you here," said Aaron to Cassie. He, like all of her friends, was well aware of her propensity for letter writing, and though he hadn't actively thought about the possibility of her being here when he arrived, he wasn't surprised by it. Cassie was by nature an early riser and often sent her post in the mornings.

The girl laughed her signature bell-like laugh. "Fancy indeed. I was just sending off some letters to Lily and my family. You?"

"I'm joining a blind dating service. This is my application letter," said Aaron. Cassie raised a delicate eyebrow. "Nah," said Aaron, "you caught me. I just need to order more hair gel. I'm running low."

"Hardly surprising with the amount you use," said Cassie.

"What can I say? Perfection takes effort."

Cassiopeia giggled at Aaron's dramatic pose and rolled her eyes. Then her stomach rumbled. "I'm hungry," she said, somewhat unnecessarily. "Hurry up and send that so we can get down to dinner."

"One step ahead of you," said Aaron, tying the scroll to the leg of a nearby school owl who looked a bit put out at being selected for the job. "D'you know what's for breakfast?"

"I'm not _actually_ psychic," said Cassiopeia. "But I assume basically what there always is."

"Well, you know, I forget that sometimes," said Aaron, and she made a face at him. "I guess there's only one way to find out. Race you to the Great Hall!" he added, leaving the owlery at a run.

"Aaron Towler, we are too old for this!" said Cassie, as she took off in pursuit.

*****AMCW*****

Several minutes later the two Gryffindors arrived at their table in the great hall panting and grinning. Cassie was surprisingly fast, despite her smaller stature, and they slid to a halt nearly simultaneously, narrowly avoiding knocking the bacon dish to the floor. Bryan, who had been about to reach for a piece, looked up at them, nonplussed. "Good morning."

"Morning, Bry," said Aaron, sliding into the seat next to him and snatching a piece of bacon up with his fingers.

Bryan slapped his wrist reprovingly. "There are tongs, you know." Aaron shrugged. "Always have to make an entrance, don't you?" said Bryan, shaking his head and smiling. "Afraid I'd eat all the bacon?"

"A distinct possibility," said Aaron. "Though one I'm glad you haven't managed to fulfill yet." "Bacon, Cassie?"

"Yes, thank you," said Cassiopeia, taking the dish, and the tongs.

"Where were you two coming from in such a rush, anyway?" asked Bryan, piling his eggs and bacon onto a piece of toast.

"The owlery," said Cassie. "We happened to run into each other there. Not literally."

"I did run into someone literally this morning," said Aaron, "now that you mention it. A first year named Oliver. Odd little kid."

"How so?" asked Cassie curiously.

"I dunno," said Aaron. "Couldn't put my finger on it. I'll point him out to you if I see him, though."

"What house is he in?" asked Bryan.

"I dunno," said Aaron again. "He didn't say and I didn't ask. He wasn't very talkative."

"Compared to a normal persona or compared to you?"

"Blah, blah, blah," said Aaron, waving his hand at Bryan.

"Case in point."

*****AMCW*****

"So, what are we studying in today's lesson?" Jenny asked the twins as the three of them walked arm in arm toward Hagrid's hut at the edge of the grounds.

The boys laughed. "You'll find out in five minutes, Jenny."

"Or you could tell me now."

"Patience is a virtue."

"Oh go shag a hippogriff."

Lorcan and Lysander exchanged an amused look.

"Yeah…I think we'll pass on that one. But by all mean, be our guest."

"Huh?" said Jenny, following the arc of the twins' sweeping arms in confusion. By then they had arrived at the lawn in front of Hagrid's hut, where a large enclosure had been erected containing a half dozen large beasts with equine bodies staring at them out of eagle eyes.

"Bloody hell," said Jenny. "I must be psychic. I should have taken Divination class."

"Really?" said Lorcan and Lysander mildly. "So, you are going to shag one of them?"

"Ew, no," said Jenny, giving Lorcan, who was closest to her, a shove. "Though I heard the centaurs in the forest once—"

"Hello, everyone," said Hagrid, emerging from the door of his hut and beaming at the assembled Ravenclaws and Gryffindors. "As you can see, I've got a real treat fer yeh today. Who can tell me what these beauties are? Jenny?"

"They're Hippogriffs," said Jenny smugly as the other students who had raised their hands lowered them in disappointment.

"Tha's right," said Hagrid, beaming even wider. "Hippogriffs! Now, the firs' thing yeh gotta know about Hippogriffs is they're real proud. They can be real loyal ter the right person, but yeh gotta earn their trust and respect. Now, I'm not expecting any of you ter form lifelong bonds today," Hagrid chuckled. "but hopefully yeh'll get to give 'em a pat an' a bit ter eat. Lorcan, Lysander, yeh've had experience wi' Hippogriffs before. Would yeh like ter demonstrate how ter go about it?"

Lorcan and Lysander stepped forward and entered the enclosure slowly, making for the Hippogriffs with whom they had previously made their acquaintance.

"The key ter interactin' with a hippogriff," Hagrid narrated as they advanced, "is eye contact. Yeh gotta look 'em in the eyes and not look away or blink, or they'll think yeh're not ter be trusted. And it's best to stay out of reach of a mistrustful hippogriff. Approach 'em slowly, give 'em plenty of time to get used ter the idea of yeh. An' then when you reach 'em, jus' abou' there, stop and bow, not breakin' yer eye contact, tha's important. Yes, jus' like that, well done, boys. Now we'll watch an' see if the hippogriffs bow back to 'em. If they do they can step forward and give 'em a pat there on their withers, yes Lorcan, jus' like that, good boy. If not they'll back away an' give the beasts their personal space again."

Lorcan's tawny friend had sunk to his knees almost as soon as Loran had completed his bow and was now butting his head against the boy's shoulder like the horse his back half resembled. Lysander's black juvenile was more hesitant, scratching the ground nervously and casting its eyes around at the students gathered outside of the enclosure.

"Come on, baby," Lysander said softly. "Come on, little one, you remember me."

The black hippogriff cocked its feathered head and clicked its beak.

"Uh-huh," Lysander encouraged. "Bow for me, little buddy, come on." Lysander could feel the eyes of the rest of the class, Hagrid, and his brother on him, but he didn't look away or blink, though his eyes were starting to water. "Midnight," he cooed. "Let me pet you. Please?"

Midnight ruffled her feathers and then, seeming to come to a decision, sank to her scaly knees in front of Lysander, who did an internal victory dance. Externally, he reached out his hand and stroked the inky feathers between midnight's wings.

"Al righ', very good you two," said Hagrid with a grin. "Now who else wants a go?"

A dozen hands shot immediately into the air as the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors jostled to be the first in line.

"No more'n five at a time," said Hagrid over the commotion. "Midnight's too skittish to have so many different people tryin' ter touch her yet. Now remember, if 'e doesn' bow back after a couple'a seconds, jus' back up an' leave 'im be. They're gentle creatures by nature, but a hippogriff's not sommat yeh want ter provoke."

Jenny managed to push her way into the first group, approaching a palomino hippogriff which, after a few moments of consideration, gave her a stiff-kneed bow and allowed her to stroke its feathered head. Afterwards, she rejoined the twins to watch the remainder of the class try their luck with the majestic, if slightly odd-looking, beasts.

"I wish I could have gotten to try that black one," said Jenny, eyeing midnight, who was snapping at the birds in the trees lining the far end of the enclosure.

"She's too young to be used for class," said Lorcan and Lysander who, it had to be admitted, had a touch of pride in his voice.

"So how come you got to use her?"

"We have experience with hippogriffs," said the twins matter-of-factly.

Jenny huffed and then turned her attention back to the animals. "I wonder what it's like to ride one…"

"Bumpy," said Lorcan.

Jenny whirled around to stare at him. "Have you—?"

"I'd imagine," finished Lysander.

"Cheeky bastards," muttered Jenny.

*****AMCW*****

"So what are your plans for your first Hogsmeade weekend?" Cassiopeia asked the third years as the four of them boarded the carriage that would take them to the nearby wizarding town. The younger students had been up early, eager for their first visit to the much talked of village. Cassiopeia had decided to join them while Aaron and Bryan, who were not morning people, had agreed to meet up with them later in the day.

"We're going to go to Honeyduke's before it gets too crowded," said Jenny. "And then I want to go to Zonko's."

"Even though Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes is obviously better," Lorcan and Lysander cut it.

"And then depending on what time it is we'll either stop for lunch at the Three Broomsticks or visit some of the other shops first," Jenny finished.

"That sounds like a good plan," said Cassie with a smile. "Mind if I join you?"

"Of course not," said Jenny and the twins, all three of them in sync this time. "As long as you can keep up!"

*****AMCW*****

Three hours later, laden with bags of sweets, joke items, and other magical paraphernalia, the group sat down at one of the last available tables in the Three Broomsticks, which was wedged into a corner against the far wall next to the bar. A convenient location for ordering butterbeers, which they did without delay.

"How is it possible that you haven't bought anything?" said the twins, looking incredulously at Cassie over their mugs.

"I bought a butterbeer," Cassie pointed out, indicating her drink.

"That doesn't count," scoffed the twins.

"I've been here a few times before," said Cassiopeia with a smile. "I've had other opportunities."

"Good day, all!" said Aaron, sliding into the seat beside Cassie, causing her to bump into Jenny, who was sitting on her other side.

"Careful!" Jenny yelped, narrowly avoiding sloshing butterbeer down her front.

"Oops, sorry," said Aaron as Bryan took his seat more sedately next to the twins.

"It's about time," said the Scamander boys. "We thought maybe you'd decided to sleep through Hogsmeade!"

"We considered it," said Aaron seriously. "But then we got hungry."

The others laughed.

"Well, you've come to the right place, then," said Cassie.

"And we went to the other right place first," said Bryan, brandishing a Honeydukes bag with a grin.

"For breakfast?" said Cassie. "Really?"

"Whatever, _mum_ ," said Aaron, popping a sweet into his mouth.

Jenny followed suit with one of her own sweets. "Yum."

Aaron made a face. "Sorry, Jenny, wrong team."

"I was talking about the sweet, you twat!"

"Suuuuure…"

The bell above the pub door jingled and the group glanced toward it. A group of Hufflepuffs had entered and were now looking around the crowded pub for a table.

"Now _that_ is yum," said Aaron, nodding toward the broad-shouldered form of Gregory Bones in the center of the group.

"Mmmhmm," agreed Jenny. "That _ass_ though. I would totally tap that. You should go talk to him."

"Me?" said Aaron. "I wish, but there's just one little problem with that: Gregory is straight. _You_ should go talk to him."

"Ha, no way," said Jenny. "You're losing it, Aaron. He's definitely gay."

"Oh yeah? What proof do you have?"

"Intuition," said Jenny smugly.

Aaron had a look on his face that Bryan knew from long experience meant trouble. "Are you willing to bet on that?"

"Sure," said Jenny, without missing a beat. "But how are we going to test it?"

"My Halloween party. We'll both make moves on him and see who he goes for."

"You're on," said Jenny. "What are we betting?"

"Erm, guys, I can see a major flaw in this plan," said Bryan, but the other two ignored him.

"Loser is in charge of party clean up," said Aaron.

"Deal," said Jenny, and they shook on it.

Lorcan, Lysander, Bryan, and Cassie shared a look. This could have one of two outcomes: hilarity or disaster.

*****AMCW*****

Lorcan and Lysander were yawning when they arrived back at Ravenclaw tower that evening, laden with bags and full of chocolate. That of course, didn't keep them from laughing at their own silent, private joke as they pushed open the door to their dormitory.

"Shh," snapped a voice from the corner. "Some of us have homework to do."

The twins stopped mid-chuckle and blinked in surprise. Nicholas Belby was shooting them a dirty look from behind the half-drawn curtains of his bed.

"Oh, sorry Nick, we didn't know you were here."

"Mmhmm," said Nicholas. "Whatever, just be quieter, would you?"

"Sure thing. What are you working on?"

"Stuff," said Nicholas, moving his arm to hide the paper from Lysander's inquisitive glance.

"Oka-ay…" There was an awkward silence, which the twins broke by asking. "So…did you have a good time in Hogsmeade today."

"I didn't go."

"What!?"

"Are you deaf? I said I didn't go. And I also said be quiet, I'm trying to work!"

"Sorry…" said the twins together.

"And stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"Saying everything at the same time like that! It's weird."

At this point Lorcan and Lysander wisely decided to switch to silent communication, wondering what the hell had gotten into their roommate.

*****AMCW*****

That was a mystery that had to wait as classes got into full swing. As third years, Lorcan, Lysander, and Jenny all had additional classes in their schedules this year. All three of them had opted for Care of Magical Creatures (obviously) and Ancient Runes while the twins had picked up Divination and Jenny had chosen Muggle Studies. In the years since their mother had gone to school, and since the hiring of Firenze the Centaur to co-teach the class, the subject of Divination had improved its reputation somewhat, though many witches and wizards still regarded the whole branch of magic with a great amount of skepticism. Lorcan and Lysander rather enjoyed the subject. Certainly neither of them expected to receive a sudden blast of clairvoyance from the great beyond, but the subject was interesting nonetheless, and actually they were really rather good at it, as much as can be expected with such an elusive and inexact branch of magic.

Bryan and Aaron also found themselves quite busy, as they were coming up on their OWL exams. Needless to say, however, Aaron still found the time to plan an absolutely epic Halloween party come the end of October, if he did say so himself.

"Are you inviting _all_ those people?" said Bryan incredulously, peering over Aaron's shoulder at the list of names on the parchment on the table in front of him.

"Nah," said Aaron, shaking his head. "This is the list of people I'm trying to decide about."

"Less is more," Bryan advised him.

"Mmhmm," said Aaron noncommittally. "Ah, maybe you're right. Here," he pushed the parchment over toward Bryan. "Anyone from here you think I should definitely include?"

"I don't even know most of these people," said Bryan, scanning the list of names. "Who's Oliver Brown?"

"This kid I met a while back. He's…interesting."

"Someone's got a crush," said Bryan teasingly.

"Ew no," said Aaron. "The kid's eleven!"

"You're inviting a first year?"

"I'm thinking about it," said Aaron.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I figured he might be our kid," said Aaron. "You know, the one Cassie and Lily tasked us with. I've been keeping tabs on him—"

"Creepy," commented Bryan.

"—and he seems like a kind of lone wolf type, might need a friend or two to orient him to life at Hogwarts."

"In other words, a perfect candidate," said Bryan thoughtfully. "Now you've made me curious. Go ahead and invite the kid; I'd like to meet him."

Aaron took the parchment back from Bryan and made a checkmark next to Oliver's name. "Great. You can start on his invitation."

"Me? I have things to do!"

"Yeah, the first of which is helping me with the party invitations. They're not going to make themselves and my hand is starting to hurt."

Bryan rolled his eyes but settled himself down on the sofa next to Aaron and pulled the stack of blank invitations toward him.

 _Congratulations! You have scored an invitation to the most spooktacular event of the Halloween season…_

 **AN: Thank you to all of you who reviewed the first chapter; I hope to see your names, plus new (and returning) names popping up in my inbox again this time around! Also, still keep an eye out for my upcoming Supernatural fic, and feel free to check out some of my older stories as well.**

 **Cheers!**

 **-SQ**


	3. Bet Your Ass

**Author's Note: Hey! Sorry about the delay in getting this chapter up. I've been working a lot and doing shows, so I haven't had a lot of time to write. I'm currently playing Helena in** _ **A Midsummer Night's Dream**_ **, which is a role I've wanted to play for aged :D** __

 **Also honestly my** _ **Supernatural**_ **fic is just easier to write than this one because, like most of my fics barring BWST and this one, the idea for it attacked me and demanded to be written, and I haven't run out of steam with the initial plot bunnies yet. I like this chapter quite a bit though, reading it back over, and I hope you do too.**

 **I also want to dedicate this story to the victims of the Pulse Orlando shooting, with the knowledge that my very white, cis cast of characters in no way represents the majority of the victims of the event. When I began writing** _ **Bound With Silver Threads**_ **six years ago, and was establishing the attitudes toward LGBTQ+ individuals in the world of the story, I wrote basically from my own 2010 experience. I thought that in all likelihood we would have made quite a bit of progress by the time my story was actually taking place, but that perhaps the wizarding world, being a bit behind the Muggle one, would be about in that place that point. While it is not yet the 2020s, when BWST was set, not nearly as much progress has been made as I would have liked, and indeed it is looking as though this might be one area in which the Wizarding World is actually ahead of the Muggle one. Let us learn, then, from J. K. Rowling's messages of tolerance, and continue to spread it throughout our fandoms and our lives.**

 **Love is Love**

 **-SQ**

 **Disclaimer: I'm not even sure yet what I think about all the more recent Potter info, I certainly don't own it**

 **Chapter Three: Bet You Ass**

Cassiopeia had to admit that Aaron knew how to decorate for a party. She had shown up early to assist him and Bryan with the final preparations. Dressed as La Llorona, alternatively known as a "woman in white," a character originally derived from Hispanic folklore, she was currently busy enchanting candles hovering above the party-goers' heads to flicker in a particularly spooky manner. Bryan, as usual eschewing a costume in favor of dressing thematically, this year in black dress robes and a skull-patterned tie and stockings, was lighting the candles in the jack-o-lanterns occupying the four corners of the unused classroom they were using, and also double-checking the sound-proofing charms; the last thing they needed was the party to be crashed by their professors. Aaron was nowhere to be seen.

"Where the bloody hell is Aaron?" asked Bryan, looking up from the final jack-o-lantern, a truly ghastly visage of a howling banshee with rats entangled in her hair. "I swear, if he's late to his own party—"

"Never fear, your most esteemèd host is here!"

Aaron stood in the doorway, dressed to kill. Literally.

"A vampire, classic," said Cassie with an appreciative nod.

Aaron flashed her a fanged grin. "Is everything ready?"

The other two nodded in affirmation.

"Good." He waved his wand and all of the regular lights in the room went out, leaving only the jack-o-lanterns and floating candles. His face was immediately thrown into shadow.

Cassie and Bryan took up positions on either side of the door to serve as greeters/bouncers and soon the first guests began to trickle in. Jenny and the Scamander twins arrived, Jenny sporting pirate garb and the twins apparently costumed as blast-ended-skrewts. An odd choice, but their friends expected nothing less.

Many people arrived with dates, and Cassie found herself missing her own girlfriend, who was busy establishing her apothecary business out in the real world. Cassie shook her head to dispel the melancholy thoughts. She was here with her friends, and she owed it to Aaron to enjoy his admittedly awesome party.

Cassiopeia was surprised to see a first year student hesitantly making his way toward her.

"Erm, is this Aaron Towler's Halloween party?" he asked hesitantly, pulling at the sleeves of his orange long-sleeved t-shirt.

"Yes, it is," said Cassiopeia kindly. "May I see your invitation?"

The child held it out to her; the name on the parchment read "Oliver Brown."

"Welcome, Oliver. Happy Halloween," said Cassie, flashing him a smile.

"Happy Halloween," muttered Oliver, looking more than a little overwhelmed. He glanced over his shoulder, as if contemplating making his escape, but then Aaron was suddenly descending upon him, cape swirling.

"Oliver! I don't know if you remember me—we bumped into each other a while back, literally—I'm Aaron and this is my party; let me show you around."

Cassie raised an eyebrow at Bryan across heads of the latest arrivals. "Your promise?" she asked as Aaron drew Oliver farther into the room.

Bryan nodded. "If Aaron doesn't scare him away."

Cassie laughed musically. "I approve."

When most of the invitees were accounted for (you didn't just not show up to an Aaron Towler party without a good reason), Cassie shooed Bryan out into the party proper. She didn't mind door duty; it was an excellent vantage point from which to observe the goings-on around her.

Lorcan and Lysander seemed to be choreographing their own blast-ended skrewt dance on the dance floor, moving completely in sync with one another in a series of strange movements that no one else could follow. Jenny had located Gregory Bones and was wasting no time in making her move, though as of yet she didn't seem to be making any progress. Aaron was keeping tabs on her out of the corner of his eye, but most of his attention was divided between the party at large and the first year standing next to him.

Oliver had yet to reject the half-protective, half-possessive arm that Aaron had slung around his shoulders. He wasn't the most talkative kid, Aaron reflected. Then again, it was a little loud in here for normal conversation.

"Hey," said Bryan, joining them. "Hi Oliver, I'm Bryan. You look a little overwhelmed."

"I…I'm okay," said Oliver, with a half-glance at Aaron. "How do you know my name?"

Bryan nodded at Aaron. "This one thinks he's my best friend or something," he joked. "It's nice to meet you."

"You're not wearing a costume," Oliver observed.

"Nah, I'm not much for elaborate get-ups, unlike Aaron here," said Bryan. "Seems like I'm in good company, though," he added, indicating Oliver's orange long-sleeve tee and black jeans.

"Oh…yeah…" said Oliver, looking down at his outfit rather self-consciously. "I didn't know what to wear…"

"You want me to paint your face like a skeleton?" Aaron offered. "I have a ton of makeup."

"You…you do?" asked Oliver, as though makeup was a completely foreign concept to him. "But…I mean…you're…you know…"

"Fabulous?" suggested Aaron.

"I think he means a guy," said Bryan. "Guys can have makeup. Aaron's collection rivals most of the girls' at this school."

"Oh," said Oliver, an unreadable look on his young face.

"So..,how about that skeleton? I do a wicked one."

"Er, no, that's okay," said Oliver.

"Bry?"

"I'll pass, thanks," said Bryan. "Some of us like our faces how they are: easy to wash!"

*****AMCW*****

"Oops!" said Jenny, 'accidentally' tripping and falling into Gregory Bones's arms. It was a bold and slightly tacky move, but the clock was ticking, and Aaron wasn't going to be over there chatting up that first year forever.

"Easy there, miss Pirate Jenny," said Gregory, catching her by the forearms and righting her. "One too many butterbeers?"

"I'm not a house-elf," snapped Jenny, then remembered she was supposed to be flirting. "Though I wouldn't mind serving you."

"Forward," Gregory observed. "And just what would you like to serve me, Miss Pirate Jenny?"

"Do you like chocolate ghosts?"

Gregory laughed. It was a sexy laugh. And, even better, he allowed her to pop a chocolate ghost into his mouth.

"These are good," he said, "you should try one."

Jenny obligingly opened her mouth. "Mmm."

"Care to dance?"

Huh, maybe she was wrong after all…

Gregory and Jenny moved onto the dance floor, which the Scamander skrewts had finally vacated in favor of the butterbeer. His hands were large and firm on her waist. She knew hers were supposed to go on his shoulders, but wondered if she could get away with touching his butt. She decided not to push her luck just yet. After all, if this went well, she would have other opportunities. After she cleaned up from the party.

"You're a good dancer, Pirate Jenny," said Bones, when the song ended.

"I'm good at a lot of things," she said cheekily. _Though not, it seems, at winning bets_. A fact she wasn't too put out about, all things considered.

"I'll just bet you are."

He leaned down and pecked her on the lips (okay, maybe he wasn't gay after all), then suddenly twin voices were shouting "EVERYONE ON THE DANCE FLOOR FOR THE MONSTER MASH!"

"Oh, I have to see this," said Gregory with a grin. "Those Scamanders are something else, aren't they?"

Jenny could hardly argue with that. Besides, she loved the Monster Mash, and so, ruefully admitting her defeat, she allowed her two best friends to drag her away.

*****AMCW*****

"So, what do you think?" Bryan asked Oliver, indicating the Monster Mashing party goers on the floor in front of them.

"It's…different," said Oliver carefully.

"Bad different?"

"No, just…different, different."

"I know what you mean," said Bryan. "It's not really my scene, but Aaron's my best friend, and you have to admit, he throws a pretty killer party. No pun intended."

Bryan's joke was rewarded with a half smile from the enigmatic first year.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but are you Muggleborn, or…?"

Oliver shook his head. "No, both my parents are half-bloods. Why?"

"You just seem a little out of place," said Bryan apologetically. "I'm Muggleborn, and you learn soon enough that it really doesn't make a difference, but I know how lonely it can feel at first."

"Mmhm," said Oliver noncommittally. "I think I'm going to get another butterbeer. Do you want one?"

"Sure," said Bryan, letting his lingering concern go unvoiced for now. "Thanks."

*****AMCW*****

Bryan seemed to be keeping Oliver entertained, so when Aaron saw his opportunity with Gregory present itself, he took it. Between Oliver and the Scamander twins he had managed to miss the outcome of Jenny's attempt, but he didn't see her anywhere near the Hufflepuff hunk, so he could still get lucky. Or unlucky, depending on whether his goal was the guy or the bet.

"Need another drink?" said Aaron, coming up beside Gregory and holding out a butterbeer.

The other boy took the drink with a nod and sniffed it. "Spiked?"

"No," said Aaron, shaking his head. Then he produced a flask from his hip pocket. "But I can fix that."

"Don't mind if I do," said Gregory, taking the flask and adding a liberal amount of its contents to the bottle in his hand."

"Don't spread it around, eh?" said Aaron, tipping a smaller amount of the liquor into his own bottle (he was a lightweight and he knew it) and then pocketing it once more. "I don't need everyone and their one-night stand trying to hit me up for a buzz."

"Ah, so I get special treatment?" said Gregory, with a very sexy grin.

"Would you like some?"

Gregory laughed. Also sexily. "It seems I'm popular tonight."

"Oh?" Aaron feigned ignorance. "What do you mean by that?"

"Just that you're not the first person to hit on me at this party."

"I see. And am I the first person you've hit back?"

"Nope," said Gregory. "Do that bother you?"

Aaron considered for a second. Granted, it kind of fucked with their bet, but…

"Nope."

*****AMCW*****

"So," said Aaron, vaguely acknowledging that Felix Felicis may be liquid luck, but whiskey was definitely liquid courage, "I, erm, don't supposed you're looking for a relationship?"

"Actually," said Gregory, "I'm already in one."

"Pardon?" said Aaron, scrambling off of Gregory's lap and looking over his shoulder as though Gregory's boyfriend or girlfriend might be watching them get a little more than friendly.

"Relax, it's an open relationship," Gregory clarified. "I'm poly."

"You're what now?"

"Polyamorous. I'm dating someone, but we also see other people. Sometimes separately, sometimes together. But you don't seem quite ready for that," he added.

"Erm, no," said Aaron, who had yet to be in a relationship with one person, let alone multiple people at once. "I mean, good on you, really, but I think I'm a one man at a time kind of guy."

"Well, Juliet isn't exactly a man," said Gregory, "but I don't think that increases your interest, huh?"

"Not so much," agreed Aaron.

"No hard feelings?" said Gregory.

"Well…" said Aaron, glancing down at his groin. Both boys burst out laughing.

"Looks like the party's winding down," Gregory observed, glancing around. "And honestly I'm knackered. Thanks for the fun; I'll see you around, yeah?"

"Yeah," Aaron agreed. And then, because it was the best opportunity he'd probably ever have to say it, and he was still feeling the effects of the alcohol, "You have a nice butt."

"Thanks," said Gregory, and Aaron was sure the view he had as the Hufflepuff walked away was quite intentional.

Jenny appeared at his shoulder and nodded appreciatively. "Well," she said.

"Well," Aaron agreed.

"He definitely likes girls."

"And he is most certainly into guys."

They looked at each other and then at the mix of decorations and empty butterbeer bottles surrounding them.

"Start at opposite ends and meet in the middle?" Jenny suggested.

"Works for me."

*****AMCW*****

Lorcan and Lysander Scamander were standing on their heads in the middle of the entry hall. This was earning them quite a few odd looks, though not nearly as many as it would have earned another pair of Hogwarts students engaged in the same activity. The reason behind their inversion was simple; they had been practicing headstands earlier in the common room and, on their subsequent walk down to dinner, Jenny has asked them which one of them could hold it for longest. Not knowing the answer to this question, the twins had taken the only reasonable course of action to find out.

"Alright, what's this all about?" said a tired, but good-natured voice from the main doorway. The students shuffled to the sides to allow Neville Longbottom, the Herbology professor, to pass through their midst. When he caught sight of the reason for the crowd of spectators, he tilted his head to the side and considered the scene for a bemused moment.

"Good afternoon, Lorcan, Lysander," he said mildly.

"Good evening, Professor," they replied in unison.

"Goodness me, is it really that late already?" said Neville, glancing down at his watch.

"Yep," said the twins. "It's dinner time."

"And yet a large number of the school's student body has yet to enter the Great Hall."

"Apparently," the boys agreed.

"Could that be because the two of you are distracting them by standing on your heads in the middle of the Entrance Hall?"

"Could be."

Neville chuckled. "My I ask _why_ you are standing on your heads in the middle of the Entrance Hall?"

"You may."

"Alright," said Neville, doing his best to keep a straight face. "Why are you standing on your heads in the middle of the Entrance Hall?"

"To see which one of us can do it the longest."

"Ah," said Neville, "I see. Well, that sounds like an important question to answer, I'm sure, but maybe you could figure it out after dinner. I, for one, am hungry."

The twins blinked at him as though he had provided them with hitherto un-thought-of wisdom, then righted themselves and continued into the Great Hall as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Be sure to let me know who it is," Neville added as he passed them on his way to the staff table.

"We will," they assured him. "Enjoy your dinner, Professor Longbottom."

"Enjoy your dinner, boys, and send your mother my regards."

*****AMCW*****

It turned out that Lorcan could stand on his head for exactly three and a half seconds longer than could his brother, but this was a fact none of them found out until the next afternoon, standing on one's head with a stomach full of pudding being deemed unadvisable by all involved. Jenny joked that they finally had a way to tell the two of them apart, until Bryan pointed out that standing the boys on their heads every time someone wanted to know who was who wasn't the most practical solution.

"Practical shmactical," said the twins.

"Where do you come up with these phrases?" said Jenny, shaking her head.

"It's a muggle thing," said Bryan. "It's like…it's hard to explain. You add an 'sh' to the beginning of a word to imply that you don't take it seriously."

"That makes sense," said Aaron. "I never take 'sh' seriously." Then, "Hey look, it's Oliver. Hey, Oliver!"

They boy looked distinctly uncomfortable at being called out in front of his year mates by a fifth year, but to his credit he returned the salutation rather than making the situation even more awkward by refusing to acknowledge the obvious. Actually, some of the other first years looked rather impressed that Oliver was on hailing terms with Aaron Towler and co.

"How's it going?" Aaron asked the younger boy, slinging an arm around his shoulders as soon as he was in range.

"Erm, fine. You?"

"Peachy keen." Oliver gave him an incredulous look and Aaron burst out laughing. "Good, I'm good. Lorcan can stand on his head for three and a half seconds longer than Lysander can."

"Erm, that's…interesting…?"

"No, it's really not, don't worry," said Bryan.

"Hey!" protested the twins. "We are very interesting."

"Eh," said Jenny, "the jury's still out."

"Ooh," said Aaron. "Are any of them hot?"

Oliver looked around and inquired, "Where's…what's her name? The blonde girl?"

"Cassie," said Jenny. "She's at Quidditch practice. Does someone have a crush?"

"Well, you can't say he doesn't have good taste," said Bryan.

"No, no, I—I just…I liked talking to her."

"It's alright," said Bryan kindly. "She has that effect on a lot of people."

"She has a girlfriend though," said Aaron. "Sorry to break it to you."

"She's a…a lesbian?"

The twins shook their heads. "Cassie doesn't like labels. She's definitely dating Lily, though."

Oliver chewed his lip, but said no more on the topic.

*****AMCW*****

When he got the chance, Bryan pulled Oliver aside. "Oliver," he said carefully, "you seemed surprised when Aaron said that Cassie had a girlfriend. Do you have a problem with that?"

"What? No. No!" said Oliver, shaking his head vigorously. "No, no it doesn't matter to me like that. It doesn't matter to me at all, because I don't have a crush on her either, for the record. But I also don't have a problem with her liking girls, I swear."

"But you were surprised." It wasn't a question.

"Well, yeah," said Oliver. "I just…she's so…feminine."

"Sexual orientation and gender expression don't always line up as neatly as the stereotypes, or Aaron, would have you believe."

"Erm, sorry?"

"Right, you're only eleven. Who people are attracted to, boys or girls, that's called sexual orientation. How people present themselves—how they act and dress and what kinds of things they're into, and whether those things are considered traditionally 'masculine' or feminine,' that's called gender expression. The two don't have as much to do with each other as you might think."

Oliver stared at him, wide eyed. "How do you know this stuff?"

Bryan shrugged. "I have a lot of queer—that means not straight—friends. And it's interesting."

"But you're straight?"

"Yeah. Not that it matters."

"And Lorcan and Lysander?"

"You'd have to ask them; I make it a rule not to speculate about other people's gender preferences. Why are you so interested?"

Oliver shrugged non-committally and stared at his shoes. "No reason."

"Okay."

 **AN: I know this fic hasa pretty niche audience, since half the main characters are OCs at this point, and the main canon characters are only post-book canon, but that just makes you loyal readers even more valuable and awesome! Thank you for your readership, and for your reviews. Please keep them coming!**

 **-SQ**


	4. Plans

**Author's Note: Sorry this has taken a while. I've started my new job. And by new job I mean my first 6** **th** **month contract as an Entertainment Host for Carnival Cruise Lines. So if anyone is planning a Cruise to the southern Caribbean… ;) My schedule is full of both work and fun, internet access is limited, but I am still writing, as always.**

 **-SQ**

 **Disclaimer: I don't even own a copy of** _ **The Cursed Child**_ **. So don't spoil it for me please!**

 **Chapter Four: Plans**

 _Dear Lily,_

 _Good morning, mi fluer de lis. I am writing this by candlelight on my bed first thing after waking up, which hopefully means that it will reach you first thing when you wake up, hehe. How is your business going? Things are going well here, and surprisingly quickly. We miss you, of course, myself most especially. You will be glad to know that Bryan and Aaron do seem to have succeeded in "adopting," as it were, Oliver into our circle. I really do think you'd like him, Lily; he reminds me of you somehow, though granted his shyness is much closer to me at that age. Aaron is constantly trying to draw him out of his shell. While I admit that I, too, am curious, I would rather allow him to come out in his own time. I think he will. He seems to show a particular interest in me—not in that way, don't worry! I think he's trying to figure me out as much as the rest are trying to crack him._

 _In other news, Lorcan can stand on his head for three and a half seconds longer than can Lysander._

 _I'll write you again soon._

 _Love,_

 _Cassiopeia_

*****AMCW*****

 _Cassie,_

 _Candlelight, how romantic :) I was, in fact, already awake when your letter arrived (though just barely, I'll admit.) While running my own business has the benefit of setting my own hours, I still have to make them semi-reasonable or I wouldn't have any clients! Haha. It's going fairly well. Nothing to crow about, but I've had a few clients so far, and am starting to see repeats, so hopefully I'll be able to call them regulars soon. My uncle George is helping me a lot with the management side of things; he was younger than I am when he started Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and you know how well that took off. He's actually took on a lot more than I asked him to; he says it's his way of repaying my dad. What for, I'm not entirely sure, but I'll take it. Right now I'm handling pretty much everything else myself, but I hope to be able to hire an assistant within the year._

 _Sorry, I'm probably boring you. But you did ask, so :P This Oliver kid does sound intriguing; you'll have to keep me updated. As for his trying to figure you out—I wish him luck!_

 _As for the twins, erm…do I even want to know?_

 _I love you too and I miss you like crazy,_

 _Lily_

*****AMCW*****

 _Lily,_

 _It would be more romantic if I were sharing it with you rather than with Copernicus, though he is a very nice owl. I'm glad to hear your business is going well; that's exciting, not boring at all. I don't ask questions I don't want to know the answer to, and while I love Hogwarts, it is rather a microcosm, so it's nice to get news from the outside world. That's one thing Muggles do much better than us, though their system of constant immediate news updates seems like a bit too much._

 _Hopefully we'll all get to see you in person sometime soon, and maybe you can meet Oliver then. But until that time I will, of course, keep you updated about everything going on here._

 _As for Lorcan and Lysander, it was a dare that turned into a competition._

 _I love and miss you more every day,_

 _Yours,_

 _Cassiopeia_

*****AMCW*****

 _Cassie,_

 _Speaking of Copernicus, do you need any owl care potions? Haha. Just kidding. Kind of. I'm realizing more and more how much of a microcosm Hogwarts was the more time I spend out in the real world. I can't even imagine operating in the Muggle world, or worse, being a witch or a squib that operates in both! Wizarding Britain is big enough for me just now, thanks. In fact, my little shop is just about all I can handle for the time being. It will be easier once I'm able to hire an assistant. Of course, that will mean the business is growing, so maybe not. Still, I love it._

 _You'd better keep me updated! You're by far the best at writing of any of you. Lorcan and Lysander try, they really do, but I think the mundane task of writing letters often slips their mind. Aaron is decent, but Bryan is hopeless, haha. Send them my love, and Hagrid and Neville too._

 _And Merlin, yes! Maybe over the Christmas holidays we can have a get together at our place? Well, my place. I know it's not big, but we're used to cramming everyone into the dormitory, so I'm sure we can manage. Let me know what you think._

 _Kisses,_

 _Lily_

*****AMCW*****

 _Lily,_

 _Actually, I'd love it if you could send me some of that feather sheen potion you had me beta test a while back. I'm out of my sample bottle and I really do think it helped with Copernicus' flight efficiency, even if it gave him a bit of a complex! I'm including payment with this letter._

 _I think a holiday get together at our/your place is a lovely idea, especially since we never had a proper housewarming. I'd also love to see Dawn, Marica, Louis, and Hugo. And maybe Rose too, though that may necessitate inviting Scorpius, which would throw in Albus, and I don't think the apartment can accommodate your entire extended family, no matter how creative we get with space and how comfortable we are getting cozy with each other._

 _Kisses and Hugs,_

 _Cassie_

*****AMCW*****

 _Cassie,_

 _Here's your feather sheen!_

 _Yeah, I'd say nix on Rose because of the snowball effect. We'll see my family at some point over the holidays, I'm sure. But let's do it!_

 _Lily_

*****AMCW*****

"I'm sorry you can't come to Hogsmeade with us, Olie," said Bryan kindly to the first year as they left the Great Hall after breakfast, the older students preparing to board the carriages that would take them on their monthly visit to the nearby wizarding village.

"Doesn't look like weather I'd fancy being out in anyway," said the Hufflepuff, glancing toward the windows with a shrug.

He had a point; rain lashed sideways against the panes, painting the grounds in a blurry, grey watercolor. Those who were venturing out into the November storm were dressed accordingly; galoshes and cloaks securely fastened with their hoods pulled up. All around the Entrance Hall, wands were busy casting water repelling charms.

Aaron and Bryan were currently giving the weather the side eye.

"Uh…"

"On second thought…"

"There will be other Hogsmeade weekends."

"Definitely," said Aaron. "Other, _dryer_ ones. Mind if we stay back with you, Olie?"

"Oh, erm, alright," said Oliver.

"Awww, don't be a couple of wet blankets," said the Scamander twins.

"That's what we're trying to avoid by staying inside," said Bryan.

The twins pouted and then turned their puppy-dog eyes on the girls.

"Jenny…? Cassie…?"

"Miss Hogsmeade? Are you kidding? I'm not made of sugar—not a _word_ , you two—I won't melt."

"I like storms," said Cassiopeia. "I don't mind going out in this weather at all. I'll accompany you, if you don't mind."

"We'd mind more if you didn't!" said the Scamanders. Each twin grabbed a girl's hand and proceeded to drag them through the front doors and out into the inclement weather.

"Better them than us," said Aaron with a shudder. "It looks like you won't be spending the day alone after all, Oliver. Forget girls' nights out, we'll have a boys' day in."

"I hope we're not intruding on anything," Bryan interjected.

"No, just homework," said Oliver. "And that can wait."

"We could help you," Bryan offered. Aaron rolled his eyes.

"Thanks," said Oliver. "Maybe later. I don't have much."

"Lucky bas—set hound," finished Aaron quickly.

Oliver snorted. "Don't worry, I have an older brother."

"Yeah?" said Bryan casually. "Does he go here?"

Oliver nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Is he in Hufflepuff too?" asked Aaron.

Oliver shook his head. "He's a Ravenclaw."

"What year is he?"

"Sixth. His name's Jasper."

Aaron shook his head. "Doesn't ring a bell."

"He mostly keeps to himself."

"Are you two close?" asked Bryan.

"Not really."

"Can I ask why?" said Aaron. "I always wanted a brother."

Oliver shrugged. "We just don't have a lot in common, I guess."

"Ravenclaws," said Aaron, "who needs 'em?"

Bryan rolled his eyes. "Don't pay him any mind, Olie, rain makes him stir crazy."

"I'll have you know that the weather has nothing to do with it," said Aaron indignantly. "I can be crazy all on my own, thank you very much."

"That I can't argue with."

*****AMCW*****

The three of them had been wandering the halls without any particular destination in mind, and now found themselves in front of a particularly ugly and ill-conceived painting of a warlock who appeared to be attempting to teach a group of trolls to do ballet.

Oliver scrutinized the painting incredulously. "Is he…?"

"Yep, he really is trying to teach trolls ballet," said Aaron, nodding at the painting. "Barnabus the Barmy."

"Seriously? That was his name?"

"Only one I know him by, anyhow," said Aaron.

"Surely he wasn't a real person?"

Aaron shrugged and looked at Bryan.

"I think he was, actually," said Bryan. "I think I remember Rose doing a report on him for History of Magic back in our second year."

"Only Rose," said Aaron with a shake of his head. He shared a questioning look with Bryan, who shrugged and then nodded in a "Why not?" kind of gesture.

Oliver looked between the two older students, feeling like he was missing something, and not just because they were talking about someone who had apparently already graduated. His expression of confusion only increased as Bryan began to pace back and forth in front of the opposite wall. Confusion turned to shock as a door suddenly appeared where there had been nothing but a blank wall moments before.

"What—where—how did you—?"

Aaron grinned. "After you."

It was a couple seconds before Oliver realized that Aaron meant for him to go through the door. Hesitantly, Oliver stepped inside. The room was moderately sized, with a cozy fireplace, tall, curtained windows, and three cushy armchairs big enough for a first year to almost get lost in. There was also a table in the middle of the room which was piled full of sweets

Aaron chuckled when he saw the sweets. "Of course you would, Bry, of course you would."

"What?" said Bryan. "They're for the kid!"

"Suuure…"

Oliver was looking around. "Has this always been here?"

"Yes and no," said Aaron. "It has, at least as long as anyone who knows about it can remember, but it's not always like this."

"Come again?"

"It's commonly known as the Room of Requirement," said Bryan. "Well, when I say commonly…"

"It's kind of a well-known secret," said Aaron. "Used to be hardly anyone knew about it. People would stumble on it from time to time, sure, looking for a toilet or a place to hide a forbidden item—that version's amazing—but they didn't really know what it was, what it could do. Then during the second Wizarding War, it became the meeting place for Dumbledore's Army."

"Wow," said Oliver. "Wicked." Then, looking around the room again, "How did they all fit?"

Bryan laughed. "That's the thing about the Room of Requirement, whatever you need it to be, it becomes, so long as you're thinking about what you want from it while you're walking past the wall."

"Three times," added Aaron.

"Three times?"

"Yeah, that's how many times you have to walk by the blank stretch of wall before the door reveals itself."

"How come you guys know about it?" asked Oliver, taking a sweet from the table.

"Lily," said Aaron. "She's our friend who graduated last year, Cassie's girlfriend. It's kind of been passed down as a legacy in her family, as it were."

"And the twins'," Bryan pointed out.

"Yeah," said Aaron, "but Lils had already shown us by the time we became friends with Lor and Ly."

"Right," said Oliver, sucking on his sweet. He was having difficulty keeping up with all the references to people he didn't know. "Hogwarts is lot different than I thought it would be."

"Whaddaya mean by that?" asked Aaron, straddling a chair and taking a sweet for himself. Bryan was already on his second.

Oliver shrugged. "I dunno, I guess I just thought everyone here was more or less like Jasper. I didn't realize people could be so…different."

"Different than what?" asked Bryan.

"Different from each other. And, you know, still get along."

"I mean, it depends on what you mean by 'get along'—" Bryan gave him a look—"but yeah, there are all types at Hogwarts, that's what's great about it. Sure, some of 'em are gits, but you've just got to find your people."

"That and the classes, those can be pretty great too," said Bryan.

"Nerd."

"So, you like it here?" asked Bryan, popping yet another sweet into his mouth.

Oliver considered for a moment before replying. "Yeah, yeah I do."

"That's our boy," said Aaron, clapping him on the shoulder.

Oliver smiled at him, but Bryan thought his expression looked a little strained. A minute later, though, Aaron was in stiches over something the first year had said, and Oliver was looking rather pleased with himself, so no harm no foul. Still, Bryan made a mental note to remind Aaron that not everyone enjoyed being manhandled, even by their friends.

*****AMCW*****

"I want to throw a party," said Aaron.

"That's new," said their dorm-mate, Derick, sarcastically.

Aaron stuck his tongue out at him.

"Aaron," said Bryan. "It's the end of November, it's no one's birthday, and Christmas is still a month away. There is absolutely no reason to throw a party right now."

"How about a very little party?" said Aaron, turning on the puppy eyes.

Bryan snorted. "Do those words even go together in your vocabulary?"

"They can," Aaron insisted. "How about like a slumber party, like the girls used to have."

"I don't think the rest of our dorm would be thrilled about the idea, Aaron."

"Slumber parties are for girls," Derrick proclaimed.

"Oh go stuff a sock in it," said Aaron, flicking his wand and making one of Derrick's dirty socks fly into his mouth.

"Ugh—bleh—gross!" the other boy sputtered, spitting out the article of clothing in disgust as Aaron nearly fell off his bed laughing. Even Bryan had trouble keeping a straight face. "Serves you right for making that kind of comment," he admonished gently. "But he has rather proved my point," he added to Aaron.

"We could have it in the Mmm _Mmmm_ ," said Aaron.

"Pardon?"

"You know. The _Rmmm Rmmm-mmm_ ," said Aaron, jerking his head significantly.

"Sorry, I don't follow."

Aaron sighed, grabbed his friend by the arm, and pulled him out into the corridor.

"We could have it in the Room of Requirement."

Bryan held up his hands. "Look, if you invite me, I'll come. But I hear you snore all the time; it's up to the others.

The slumber party idea ended up being put on hold until mid-December, as Jenny's and Cassiopeia's Quidditch schedules made it nearly impossible to get them in the same place at the same time. When the topic was broached again, it was actually Lorcan and Lysanders' idea.

"We haven't spent nearly enough time together as a whole group recently," said the twins, as the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors made their way back to the castle following their respective Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology lessons. "And it's only going to get worse next term, with OWLs."

"Ugh," said Aaron with a theatrical shudder, "don't remind me."

"It'd be easier if all of us were in the same house," said Jenny. "I see you two morons plenty."

"Yeah, but that's mostly in class," said the twins. "And in the evenings after curfew."

"We could always sneak out," said Jenny with a grin. "I hear it happened all the time in your mum's time."

"Yeah, and so did a war," said Bryan. "I hardly think we want to recreate that."

"Oh, you're no fun."

"If we met in the Room of Requirement before curfew we could just stay there," suggested Lorcan and Lysander.

"A slumber party!" said Aaron, clapping his hands.

"Here we go again," said Bryan with a good-natured sigh.

"Alright," said Jenny, "but you're leaving my hair and face alone!"

*****AMCW*****

Aaron may have promised to leave Jenny's hair and face alone, but apparently Lorcan and Lysander were under no such restrictions.

"I cannot believe I'm letting you do this," Jenny grumped, as the twins eagerly gave their friend a makeover. To be fair, she really didn't look bad, just a lot more traditionally girly than the Ravenclaw had probably looked since she was able to dress herself. The braided corona (which was actually courtesy of Cassiopeia, who had stepped in to prevent the twins from making a complete tangled mess of the other girl's hair) and sparkly pink eyeshadow and lipgloss certainly made a striking contrast against her skull and crossbones pajama set.

"Who's next?" said Aaron, who had just put the finishing touches on Cassiopeia's makeup.

"Erm," said Oliver, eyeing the makeup as though unsure as to whether or not it might bite him. "Could…could I try…?"

Aaron looked as though Christmas had come early.

Jenny whistled. "First year's got balls."

"It…it'll come off, right?" said Oliver, as Aaron positioned himself in front of the younger boy, moisturizer in hand.

"Easy as pie," Aaron assured him, clipping Oliver's fringe up out of his face. "Cassie has a vanishing spell that saves me a fortune in makeup remover. Though I'd still advise washing your face after. Cleanses your pores."

"Er, good to know."

As the twins and Jenny started to play some kind of "keep away from my butt" game, Aaron got to work on Oliver's face. He himself favored bold choices: loud colors, heavy eyeliner, but something made him go for a more natural look for Oliver.

"There," he pronounced, when he was satisfied.

Jenny and the twins looked up from their pigpile. Jenny whistled again.

"Wow, Olivia, if I wasn't straight, I'd date you. I mean, if you were actually a girl. Oh, you know what I mean."

Oliver blinked at his reflection in the mirror Cassiopeia held up for him, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly in a hesitant smile. "Thanks, I…like it."

"Feel free to borrow my makeup anytime," said Aaron. "I don't really use it a lot really, more for costumes and events than anything else. Or I could help you pick up some of your own if you'd like."

Oliver looked rather like he had just found out that he had boarded a high speed train when he was expecting a horse-drawn carriage. "No! I mean, erm, thanks for the offer, but I'm okay. I just…wanted to see how it looked."

"Who wants popcorn?" said Cassiopeia pleasantly.

"Oh! Oh! Me!" shouted the twins, scrambling over one another to reach the old fashioned popcorn maker the room had provided them with. "Erm…how do you work this thing?"

"My gran had one when I was little," said Bryan, standing up and walking over. "Let me see if I can remember how to do it."

 **AN: I hope you're enjoying the story. I will still reply to reviews, it just might take me a bit because of floating around the ocean, lol.**

 **-SQ**


	5. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

**Author's Note: Gah, I am so sorry for taking so long with this chapter. Work has been busy, and then just as I was ready to post this chapter, it was my turn to stay on the ship all week, which meant no internet with which to post! But here is the latest chapter, a Holidays chapter fairy reminiscent of the same in Bound With Silver Threads.**

 **-SQ**

 **Disclaimer: What's that? You already know? Whew, good.**

 **Chapter Five: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!**

The final two weeks of term flew by and before they knew it, it was the Christmas holidays. Lorcan and Lysander's parents were in Zambia, so they were spending the holidays with the Potters.

"And we thought we were done picking up children at the train station," said Ginny, shaking her head as she and Harry waded their way through students and parents on Platform 9 ¾, looking for the identical honey blonde heads of the Scamander twins.

"Someday Teddy and Victoire will be asking us to pick up Aurore," said Harry. "Teddy brought her over to the office the other day; you should see how big she's gotten!"

"Harry," said Ginny, laughing fondly, "you sound like an old man. Oh, there are the twins. Lorcan! Lysander!"

Lorcan and Lysander gave a protesting Jenny a last smothering hug, promised her, Bryan, and Aaron that they'd write, and trotted over to the Potters, who were waving at them from the other end of the platform.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," said the Scamander Twins, unfazed as usual by the looks, ranging from covertly interested glances to blatant stares, that their parents' friends were receiving.

"Hello boys," said Ginny. "Did you have a good term?" Lorcan and Lysander nodded.

"Blow up any toilets?" asked Harry. His wife shot him a disapproving look.

"Not yet, Mr. Potter," said the teens seriously, their eyes dancing with mirth. "Maybe next term."

"Ah well, you still have time."

"Oh come on you three. Boys, you'll have to tell us more about your term in the car."

*****AMCW*****

It was strange being the only children at Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Granted, none of the other members of their generation were exactly children anymore anyway, but that wasn't something you'd remind them of if you knew what was good for you. Lorcan and Lysander kept themselves busy helping Harry and Ginny ready the house for the upcoming festivities.

The twins certainly had their own unique style, though Ginny, shaking her head at the pickle-shaped paper lanterns and spiderwebs adorning her sitting room window. Ron would be less than thrilled, but at least these twins' decorations didn't jump out at passersby. _At least I hope not_ , she added, shooting the plastic arachnids a mistrustful glance on her way past. Thankfully they stayed put.

" _We saw three ships come sailing in, on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day,_

 _We saw three ships come sailing in on Christmas Day in the morning!"_

Harry looked at Ginny behind the twins' backs and mimed putting his hands over his ears.

Ginny shot him a quelling look. "It's so nice to have the house so full of Christmas spirit," she said pointedly.

"I'm nearly overcome by it," Harry agreed. "Oh, look at the time! I'd better get to work, last day before the holidays and all. Thanks for breakfast, Ginny!"

As it really was time for Harry to go to work (and the twins' singing really was rather awful), Ginny let this slide.

Besides, she had things to get in order too, before her house was flooded with relatives starting not long after this time tomorrow. It was, Ginny reflected, the first year where not all of the children would be there for Christmas. Lily, Albus, and James would all be coming, as would Teddy and Victoire with Aurore. Rose and Hugo would also be there (Dawn was in America for the holidays), while Louis was planning on splitting his time between his family and Marica's and Roxanne and Lucy were doing the same with their boyfriends. Fred would be at Number 12, Grimmauld Place the whole time with his girlfriend, Sarah, but Dominique was spending Christmas with her boyfriend's family in Whales and Molly was in Liverpool with her fiancé. Ginny knew her own children wouldn't be far behind.

*****AMCW*****

Even in a house as big as Number 12, Grimmauld Place, Christmas Eve sleeping arrangements had to get a little creative. Roxanne and Lucy and their boyfriends were not staying the night, Louis and Marica would not be arriving until the next morning, and Charlie had stayed in Romania this year, but even so that left nine bedrooms (one of which was really the converted parlor) to be divvied up between twenty-four people, twenty-one of whom were adults.

As usual, the boys got the raw end of the deal, Albus, James, Hugo, Fred, Lorcan, and Lysander all being assigned to James' old room while Teddy, Victoire, and Aurore took Albus'. Lily, Rose, and Sarah got Lily's, and the older generation were allocated the other available rooms based on preference and convenience.

*****AMCW*****

It was still dark outside when Lorcan and Lysander opened their eyes on Christmas morning. Moving as one, they pushed aside their blankets and slipped off of their shared mattress and out the door. Navigating by the faint moonlight streaming through the windows, they tiptoed down the hall to Al's old room, now occupied by Teddy, Victoire, and Aurore, stopping in front of the toddler's crib.

"Aurore," whispered the twins. "Aurore, wakey wakey, eggs and bakey." Lorcan tapped her on the nose while Lysander tickled her feet.

The little girl squirmed and opened her eyes. "Lorly!" she squealed, combining the twins' nicknames into one moniker. "Up?"

"Shhhh," said the twins. "Yes, it's time to get up. We need to teach you something. Something very important. Come with us."

The twins lifted Aurore out of the crib and led her by her chubby hands over to the bed where her parents were sleeping.

"Mumma. Dada," she said, reaching for them.

"Aurore?" muttered Victoire sleepily. "'Ow did you get out of your crib…?"

"Quickly!" hissed Lorcan, and he and Lysander lifted Aurore onto the bed.

"Now jump," said the twins.

"Jump?" said Aurore

"Yeah, like this," said Lorcan and Lysander, jumping up and down on the floor.

The little girl giggled and began to mimic them, jumping up and down on her parents' bed saying "Jump! Jump!"

The twins grinned at each other, _success_ , and began chanting "It's Christmas, it's Christmas!"

"Oh noooo," groaned Teddy, pulling his pillow up over his head. "They're already teaching our daughter! The cycle never ends!"

"You'd better be up when we come back!" called the twins, scooping up the squirming, giggling toddler and carrying her in the direction of their next (probably not all that unsuspecting) victims.

*****AMCW*****

When, at long last, everyone was gathered in the sitting room, the adults with their tea and coffee, the kids (and some of the adults) with leftover Christmas cookies from the night before. The doorbell rang and the twins raced to get it. Really even they knew they were too old to be playing the part of over-excited children, but they figured they might as well continue to hold the place for Aurore until she was old enough to come into her own. They gave it one year, two tops, before they could retire from the position with dignity. They exchanged a glance and sniggered at the thought.

"The party has arrived!" Louis declared, swooping into the room, one arm spread wide, the other fastened around Marica's waist.

"Louis!" said Lily, herself acting like an over-excited child as she wrapped her cousin and her best friend in a tight hug, kissing both of their cheeks. "I thought you guys would never get here! We were about to start without you!"

Louis put on an expression of (mostly) mock-horror. "You couldn't start without _me_!" He kissed Lily back and then left her to catch up with Marica, stepping further inside and scanning the room. "Where's my favorite niece? Where's my little Rory?"

"Loo!" said the toddler, squirming to be let down from her father's hold.

Teddy grinned and allowed his daughter to greet her uncle, who picked her up and twirled her around in a manner that made Victoire bite her lip anxiously. Her mother laid a hand on her arm. "All ze children in zis family, and I 'ave yet to see one of zem damaged by a little twirling. Save your worrying for ze future; you will have plenty of opportunities, I promise."

The new arrivals settled into the crowded room, finding a perch on the arm of the couch occupied by Lily, Rose, Hugo, and Albus. Louis handed Aurore, who had started to fuss with hunger and overstimulation, back to her mother, and Lorcan and Lysander began handing out the presents.

*****AMCW*****

Several hours later, brunch eaten, presents unwrapped, wrappings cleared away, and relatives beginning to trickle out the door in twos and threes, Ginny directed Lorcan and Lysander upstairs with their substantial haul. Christmas with the Potter/Weasley clan always guaranteed a large amount of family, food, and of course presents. But the twins agreed that their favorite Christmases had been the ones spent traveling with their parents.

"I miss them too," said Lorcan aloud. He picked up the letter their parents had sent them from Zambia and lay down on his stomach on the bed next to Lysander so they could reread it, smiling at their parents' rambling enthusiasm.

Lysander pulled the other letters they had received from their friends at school toward them.

"Lor?"

"Mm?"

"Think we should write Nick Happy Christmas?"

"Eh? What for?"

Lysander shrugged. _Seems like he maybe could use it is all._ "You notice anything off about him last term?"

"He was acting a bit of a wanker." _If that's what you mean._

"Maybe." _Maybe there's a reason._

Lorcan shrugged, unwrapping a candy cane and sticking it in his mouth. _Yeah, okay. What d'you want to say._

"Just 'Happy Christmas' is all, really."

 _M'kay._

Lysander pulled out a piece of new parchment and Lorcan handed him one of their new peacock quills.

 _Nick,_

 _Just wanted to wish you a Happy Christmas and New Year! See you next term._

 _-Lorcan and Lysander Scamander_

*****AMCW*****

Although Cassiopeia was still nominally living with her parents during the school holidays, she was spending so much time at Lily's flat that she sometimes caught herself thinking of it as theirs. Scorpius had moved out this past year, ostensibly for work, but everyone knew that it was so that he could have somewhere to bring Rose home to that wasn't incredibly awkward for everyone involved. Malfoy Manor felt lonely without her brother, like it was full of the ghosts of their childhood selves. This was compounded by the fact that her parents still treated her like a child, rather than a young woman nearly of age. This was, from all accounts by her older friends, quite common, and she didn't begrudge them, but it was a bit of a shift from being the unofficial leader of her current group of friends at school. And wasn't that a change from her first few years at Hogwarts? mused Cassiopeia with a small smile. She was still small for her age, still quiet and soft spoken, more likely to sit back and observe a situation than to jump to insert herself into it. But it was obvious, to anyone who bothered to look, that in the past few years a new sense of confidence had made its way into her demeanor. That wasn't to say she was suddenly at home in large crowds of people she didn't know, or had decided to pursue a career in public speaking. But the image her inner circle had of her, and the one she had of herself, no longer matched that held by her parents, or even, as much as she loved him, by her older brother.

*****AMCW*****

"Cassie, there's a letter for you."

Cassiopeia looked up from the dessert she was preparing for the New Year's party she and Lily were hosting for their friends at their—er, Lily's—flat later that evening. "That's Scorpius' owl," she said in mild surprise; her brother didn't write letters. "Hold on," she said to the owl, putting down her spoon and turning down the heat before allowing the bird to land on her outstretched arm and untying the letter attached to its leg.

"What's your brother want?" called Lily, who was in the process of shoving her accumulated clutter into her bedroom closet. While she and Scorpius had come to an understanding after she Lily and Cassiopeia had started dating, the older Malfoy sibling still wasn't her favorite person in the world.

"To know where I am," said Cassie.

"Excuse me?"

Cassie passed the letter over to her girlfriend.

 _Cassie,_

 _Hey, where are you? I stopped by the house, but you weren't there. Everything alright?_

Lily lifted an eyebrow. "Really? How old does he think you are, twelve?"

"Lily," Cassie admonished.

"I know, I know, but really. Who owls someone because they weren't home when they stopped by in the middle of the day without prior notice?"

Cassiopeia smiled. "I'll owl him back and let him know I haven't been eaten by an acromantula."

Lily laughed and, shaking her head, continued to attempt to make her flat presentable.

 _Scorpius,_

 _You do know I'm nearly seventeen, right? I'm at Lily's flat, getting ready for New Years. I would like to see before I go back to school, though. What are you doing on the third or fourth?_

 _Love,_

 _Cassie_

Scorpius read his little sister's letter, feeling torn between pride and anxiety. His baby sister was staying at her girlfriend's flat, planning for New Year's Eve, and organizing her schedule to make time to see him. His baby sister was now an independent young woman, practically an adult. When did that happen? How did that happen? Scorpius realized with a jolt that he _missed_ his little sister. They had used to be nearly inseparable, and now most of their communication was via letters, which he was abysmal at writing. If he wasn't careful, he was going to wake up one day and realize that he didn't even know is own little sister anymore.

Well, that certainly wasn't happening, the former Slytherin thought decidedly, pulling out his quill to write Cassie and tell her that he was available all day on January 5th and ask whether he should collect her at Malfoy Manor or Lily's flat.

*****AMCW*****

Lily's deal with her family was that Christmas had been for family and New Year's was for friends. She and Cassiopeia had decided to make their holiday/flat-warming party a New Year's get together. The flat really wasn't that big, so they had limited the guest list to Louis, Marica, Dawn, Hugo, Aaron, and Bryan. Predictably, Aaron and Louis, the latter with Marica in tow, showed up early to help with the party prep and decorating. Also predictably, Hugo and Dawn were the last to arrive, apologizing profusely for being late.

"Don't worry," Lily assured them, "we haven't eaten all the food yet."

"Oh good," said Dawn, "I'm starving."

"Shocker," said Aaron.

"Lily and Cassie cooked most of the food themselves," said Marica.

"Uh-oh," said Hugo with a look of mock-trepidation. "On second thought…"

"Hey, I can cook!" said Lily, swatting him. "I live alone; I have to."

"Good point," conceded her cousin, who still lived at home. "Wait? Will I have to learn to do that?"

"Probably a good idea," said Lily with a smile.

"Bullocks."

"This is a nice place," said Bryan, who had been taking a self-guided tour of the small but quirkily adorable flat.

"I like it," agreed Lily. "Mostly I like that it's right above my shop," she added with a laugh.

"How is that going?" asked Marica. "Are you turning a profit yet?"

Lily nodded. "Not a big one, but my Uncle George is an expert at managing funds, and I'm managing to keep myself afloat. Not that my parents wouldn't help me if I asked them, but I'd rather be independent. And once we get the mail order system up and running, I'm hoping to start reaching a larger market."

"Wow," said Bryan, impressed. "You're like a real adult or something."

"Or something," agreed Hugo with a smirk.

"Ugh, don't say that," said Lily, pulling a face at Bryan.

"A horrifying thought," agreed Louis with a shudder.

Marica laughed. "Oh Lou, you're doing a good job adulting."

"Shhh!" protested Louis.

"No adulting here," Aaron pronounced. "Let's pretend none of us ever left Hogwarts.

"You _haven't_ left Hogwarts," Dawn pointed out.

"Yeah," said Marica. "You're still babies."

"Nah," said Aaron, shaking his head. "Oliver is the baby."

"I'm so curious about this Oliver kid," said Lily.

"Who's Oliver?" said Dawn and Louis at the same time.

"He's my and Bryan's new project," said Aaron, earning a snort from Dawn at the unintentional _Wicked_ reference.

"Noooo, not like that," said Aaron, chuckling.

"He's the first year Lily and Cassie tasked us with finding and taking under our wing," said Bryan. "Kind of an awkward kid, don't think he's quite figured out who is yet, to be honest."

"Huh," said Aaron, a pensive look crossing his face. "I wonder…"

"Uh-oh," said Bryan, eyeing his best friend warily. "What do you wonder?"

"D'you think Oliver might be gay?"

"Don't you dare," said Bryan. "You're not interrogating an eleven-year-old about his sexuality."

"I'm not!" said Aaron. "I was just wondering. He did seem to like trying my make-up. And looked fabulous in it, I might add. And I _know_ gender expression isn't the same thing as sexuality, Cassie," he added, as the girl opened her mouth.

"What do you care if he's gay anyway?" said Marica. "Are you looking to date him?"

"Ew, no," said Aaron. "He's eleven, for Merlin's sake! It's just between Bryan and Jenny and the twins, I'm surrounded by a lot of straight these days."

"I'm not straight," said Cassie mildly.

"And I'm thankful for that," said Aaron.

"We should go to London Pride this summer," said Lily.

"What?" said Dawn.

"London Pride," repeated Lily. "You know, Gay Pride? Queer. LGBTQ+? It's a celebration every June in London. It's mainly a muggle event, but there are wizarding aspects. Helen told me about it, but I've never been."

"Sound awesome," said Aaron. "Let's all go!"

"Are straight people allowed?" questioned Marica.

"Yeah, everyone's welcome as long as they're an ally," said Lily.

"Count me in," said Louis.

"Me too," said Dawn, as Hugo and Bryan nodded.

"Awesome," said Lily, grinning. "Our next reunion! Now, who's ready for some dessert?"

*****AMCW*****

Midnight was approaching and Aaron was well on his way to being drunk. Bryan, who had imbibed in a more moderate fashion, was torn between being exasperated and amused by his best friend's flamboyant antics. It was certainly a different atmosphere than at Hogwarts, both before the older members of their party had graduated and now. But in a lot of ways it did bring back memories of last year. Bryan had missed his older friends, missed Dawn's manic enthusiasm, Lily's quirky personality, Marica's subtle wit. He had never really known Louis all that well, although Aaron and Lily's cousin had definitely hit it off, but Bryan couldn't deny that he knew how to throw a party, even when he wasn't technically the one throwing it.

"Guys. Guys. GUYS!" shouted Marica, who had jumped onto a chair to get everyone's attention. It worked, as seven pairs of eyes swiveled in her direction.

"Oy, Rica, whatcha doing up there?" slurred Hugo in a tone of lazy surprise.

"Just thought everyone might want to know that it's five minute to midnight."

There was a beat of silence ant then a frantic scramble to fill everyone's glasses with champagne and for significant others to locate each other in time for their midnight kiss.

"Oh no you don't, gerroff," said Bryan, pushing Aaron away as the other boy tried to pull him in for a peck on the cheek. "I love you, Aaron, but I don't swing that way."

Aaron pouted but released his friend, contenting himself with blowing loudly on a noisemaker.

"Shhhh!" Dawn admonished. "Too early!"

"Thank you Dawn," said Marica not looking very thankful and rubbing the ear she had just shouted into.

"Oops. Sorry, Rica," giggled the caramel-haired girl.

"One minute!" said Lily, checking her watch.

Hugo waved his wand and a fiery purple countdown appeared above their heads, which all turned upwards toward the rapidly decreasing numbers.

Bryan looked around and became suddenly aware that he and Aaron were the only members of the group who were not romantically attached. Funny, that had never bothered him before now. Did it bother him now? He wasn't sure. He was jolted out of his musings before he could figure out the answer by Aaron's sharp elbow in his side and his friends beginning the final countdown to the New Year.

"Eight!" he said loudly, adding his voice to theirs. "Seven! Six! Aaron, you're standing on my foot. Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!"

 **AN: I know it was a pretty standard holiday chapter without too much exciting going on, but I have some interesting developments coming up in the subsequent chapters that I hope you will enjoy. Until then (or until you review! ;) )**

 **-SQ**


	6. Nicholas' Secret

**Author's Note: This is a revision of the previously posted Chapter 6! In reviewing my earlier version, I realized that I had both made an error with Cassiopeia's age, and skipped over the actual event of her birthday entirely. This chapter includes, and concludes with, that. Chapter seven picks up with the final events of the original Chapter 6 and continues from there. My apologies for the revision. I usually try to avoid them, but I felt this one was necessary.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **-SQ**

 **Disclaimer: Does it really need to be said at this point?**

 **Chapter Six: Nicholas' Secret**

All too soon, it was time to return to Hogwarts for the spring term. Well, all too soon for Cassiopeia, Bryan, and Aaron. Lorcan and Lysander couldn't wait to get back to school. The Potters were great and all, don't get them wrong, but there was only so much for two energetic thirteen-year-olds to do at their parents' friends' house once the hubbub of Christmas and New Years' had died down. It wasn't lost on the twins either that not only were they significantly younger that the Potters and Weasleys of their generation (and obviously much older than Aurore), but they were not actually part of the family either. On the whole they didn't mind; they liked their little family as it was, and were obviously welcome to join the Potters whenever it suited them (or their parents). But still, as nice as the Potters' was, it wasn't home, which on the whole made it easier to leave when the time came.

"Lily, would it be possible for you to take Lorcan and Lysander to the train station tomorrow?" asked Ginny when her daughter came around for dinner that evening. "I can do it if you can't, but England has another match against Norway tomorrow afternoon and they've asked me to cover it."

"Sure," said Lily, helping herself to a second helping of green beans. Her mother made excellent green beans. "I'm going to take Cassie anyway, so it's no problem for me to pick the boys up on the way."

"Thanks," said Ginny. "That's a big help. How is Cassiopeia? We didn't get a chance to see her while she's been home for the holidays."

"She's doing well," said Lily. "Should be starting NEWT prep when she goes back to school next term."

"She's still living at home during the holidays?"

"For now, yeah," said Lily. "Although she stays with me a lot. I don't think her parents are quite ready for her to move out just yet."

"I don't blame them," said Harry. "She's only sixteen!"

"She turns seventeen at the end of the month," said Lily a bit defensively. While logically she knew it didn't matter, the two year age difference between herself and her girlfriend was still a bit of a sore spot.

"Sometimes I think we were crazy to let you move out when you did," said Ginny. "Seventeen is awfully young to be out on your own and starting your own business."

"Seemed to work out for Uncle George," said Lily cheekily.

Harry laughed at this. "She has a point. Not that your grandmother was overly thrilled about that one, mind you," he added to Lily.

"That's putting it mildly," said Ginny with a smile. "But she came around."

The five of them finished their dinners and Lily bid her parents goodnight, promising to be by in the morning to collect the Scamander twins. The boys helped Ginny clear the table and then scampered off to their room to finish up the last of their packing.

*****AMCW*****

The twins bounded off in the direction of the train the moment they passed through the barrier to Platform 9 3/4, claimed a compartment with their trunks, and bounded out again with Jenny in tow to say goodbye to Lily.

"Lily! You didn't tell us you'd be here!" said Aaron delightedly, nearly crashing into the older girl as he skidded to a halt and threw his arms around her. "Hey Bry! Oli! C'mere! Lily's here!"

Bryan came jogging up in a slightly more civilized manner, trailed by a pale, chubby child with freckles and longish strawberry blonde hair that fell into his pale green eyes.

"Hi Lily, long time no see."

Lily chuckled.

"It'll be a long time before we see her again," Aaron defended.

"He's got you there," said Lily, hugging the flamboyant boy back. "Who's your friend?"

"Lily, Oliver. Oliver, Lily."

"Hi, Oliver, I've heard a lot about you."

Oliver lifted his head, swept his fringe out of his eyes, and froze with his mouth half open in greeting.

Somehow it had never occurred to him that Cassiopeia's Lily was Lily Potter.

"Hellooo," said Aaron, waving his hand in front of the younger boy's face. "Earth to Oli."

The first year blinked and swallowed. "Erm, h-hi. Lily, I've heard a lot about you too. I mean from Bryan and Aaron, not just because you're…yeah." Oliver's eyes dropped back to the floor.

"I'm not, I promise," said Lily. "Well, I mean, I am, but I'm not…yeah." She chuckled at her unintentional echoing of Oliver' phrasing.

The train's whistle blew.

"C'mon," said Bryan, pushing a protesting Aaron in front of him toward the Hogwarts Express. "Bye, Lily!" he called over his shoulder.

"Bye, Lily!" echoed the twins.

Cassiopeia lifted herself up on her tiptoes, gave Lily a quick peck on the lips, and then set off after the boys, making sure that Oliver was still with her as she climbed the steps of the scarlet steam engine.

The seven of them regrouped in the compartment previously claimed by the Scamander twins as the train began to pull away from the station.

"So Oliver, how were your holidays?" asked Aaron, passing his deck of Exploding Snap over to into Lysander's outstretched hand.

"Good," said the first year with a shrug that was belied by the smile tugging at his lips. "It was my birthday too, so—"

"What?!"

"When was your birthday?"

"Why didn't you tell us!?"

"If we had known we'd have sent you a card!"

"Happy birthday!"

Oliver belated shifted uncomfortably under the sudden onslaught of attention. "It's not a big deal. I don't really get presents because it's so close to Christmas, but on my birthday we always go somewhere to celebrate. This year we went to a Breathless Banshees concert."

"No way!" said Aaron. "They're still a thing?"

"Wow," said Cassiopeia. "I remember going to ta Breathless Banshees concert in my first year. And I'm pretty sure Dawn and Marica had all their albums."

"Alison Hester was Lily's first crush," said the twins.

The others looked at them.

"How did you know that?" asked Cassiopeia in mild surprise.

Lorcan and Lysander shrugged. "We know things. And she had a poster of her on her wall until she moved out. We visit a lot."

"Good music is timeless," said Jenny. She turned back to Oliver. "Tell me you got an autograph."

Oliver shook his head. "No, just the concert. It was pretty awesome, though," he added with as close to a grin as any of them had seen on his face.

"That's great," said Bryan, smiling back at him.

*****AMCW*****

The teachers certainly weren't wasting any time in kicking off the new term, the Scamander twins silently agreed, sitting in the Ravenclaw common room with their homework spread out on the table in front of them. Contrary to popular belief, not all Ravenclaws were pro ridiculous amounts of homework. It wasn't the learning itself that Lorcan and Lysander objected too, but everything seemed to automatically become about half as interesting when it was required for a class. When Jenny and the rest of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team came through the door, the boys welcomed the distraction.

"How was practice?" they asked. Then, "Ouch! There's no room here!"

The girl ignored them as she wormed her way onto the sofa next to Lorcan. "Practice was practice. Haven't you finished that assignment yet?"

"Nearly," said the twins. "What? Are there plans we're not aware of?"

"No, I was hoping I could copy it."

"Jenny!"

"Just kidding. Mostly."

"Who're you playing tomorrow?"

"Gryffindor," said Jenny.

The boys rose in tandem.

"Hey, were are you two going? Aren't you going to finish your homework?"

"Later," said the twins, with a unison wave of their hands.

Jenny tilted her head to look up at her friends with narrowed eyes. "What are you two up to?"

The blondes just quirked identical eyebrows and left the common room.

"Boys."

"Girls," came the response through the closing door.

Jenny waited another moment and then pulled the twins' half-finished assignments toward her.

*****AMCW*****

The next morning, when the school traipsed into the great hall for breakfast they stopped, looking at the Gryffindor table in sleepy confusion. The entire table was covered in bronze vases filled with large, brilliantly blue flowers.

The Gryffindor Quidditch Team scowled at the plants, understanding the reason and the house, if not the individuals, behind them. All but their Seeker, who inclined her white-blonde head in acknowledgement of the identical smirks on the Scamanders' faces, her silver eyes dancing with quiet mirth.

Once the flora had been vanished (or, in some cases, slipped surreptitiously into pockets and button holes by passing members of other houses), the Gryffindors followed the rest of the school in sitting down to breakfast. Cassiopeia and the rest of the Quidditch team ate quickly (those who ate at all) and then filed outside onto the pitch, accompanied by their Ravenclaw counterparts.

The rest of the school finished their breakfasts before following at a more leisurely pace, Lorcan and Lysander managing to procure seats in the front row, halfway between the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor goal posts.

"Yes, they are good seats," Lorcan said rather smugly to his brother. "You're welcome."

 _Shhhh! The game is starting._

The two teams made their way onto the pitch, the captains stepping forward to shake hands. Behind them, Jenny and Cassiopeia nodded to each other as well. Then the referee blew the whistle and the fourteen players rose into the air.

Jenny immediately fell into formation with her fellow Chasers, darting and weaving to take and then maintain possession of the Quaffle as they moved it up the pitch toward the Gryffindor goal posts. Cassie, meanwhile, rose above the rest of the players, casting her sharp gaze around for the tiny Golden Snitch.

Both teams played well, staying neck and neck for the first two hours of the game. At around the two and half hour mark, Ravenclaw began to slowly but surely pull ahead, and by the time their seeker caught the Snitch an hour later, they were already leading by a solid fifty points.

"Better luck next time," said Jenny with a cheeky grin as she caught up with Cassiopeia on their way back to the Great Hall for a much anticipated lunch.

"Thank you," said Cassie graciously.

"That was supposed to be a—"

"She knows what it was supposed to be, Jenny," said the twins with identical grins as Bryan and Aaron chuckled their agreement.

"Sure, side with the Gryffindors," said Jenny.

"We'll side with whoever provides us with the most amusement," said Lorcan and Lysander sagely.

*****AMCW*****

Lorcan and Lysander returned to Ravenclaw tower to find Nicholas Belby sitting on his bed, staring vaguely into space, a piece of parchment lying on his bed next to him. When the twins entered the room, the other boy started and snatched up the parchment.

"Merlin, give a bloke a heart attack, why don't you?"

"Sorry," said the twins, dropping their bags in unison on their beds. "Didn't see you at the game."

"I didn't go," said Nicholas shortly.

"What? Why not? We won. It was awesome."

"I just didn't okay?" snapped Nicholas. "Leave me alone." He threw the piece of parchment into his trunk, shouldered his rucksack, and left the room.

Lorcan and Lysander shared a loaded look.

 _Is…he okay…?_

Honestly, the Scamander twins had been wondering that for a while, since nearly the beginning of last term. Nick, a usually amiable, if rather strong-willed boy, had become increasingly withdrawn and unpleasant, participating less and less in class, offering only short, often rude answers when spoken to, and recently even missing meals and classes. While never one of their inner circle, the twins had considered the other Ravenclaw their friend, and if something was going on with him, they wanted to help.

Lysander's eyes darted toward Nicholas' trunk, where the corner of the recently stashed parchment was just visible.

"Ly…"

"Don't tell me you're not curious."

 _It's not our business._

 _Maybe we can help._

The twins locked eyes, engaging in a silent debate. Lorcan was the first to look away, and Lysander crossed the room and slipped the parchment from Nicholas' trunk.

 _Nicholas,_

 _I hope this letter finds you well. Your father and I would have preferred to break this news to you in person, but as you chose not to come home for the school holidays, this letter will have to do. It will, I think, come as no surprise to you that your father and I are filing for divorce—_

Lorcan laid his hand over the parchment, blocking the rest of the words from his and his brother's eyes.

 _Enough._

Lysander nodded, returning the parchment to Nicholas' trunk and closing the lid. It was a more subdued and pensive set of twins that descended the steps to the Ravenclaw common room five minutes later to join Jenny and compare Potions notes for the upcoming quiz.

*****AMCW*****

Luckily, in true Ravenclaw fashion, the Scamander twins were able to direct their focus to the task at

hand despite the other things on their mind. They spent most of Sunday doing the homework they had neglected on Saturday, and both did decently well on their Potions quiz on Monday, despite it not being their best subject. But they hadn't forgotten about Nicholas and the letter. When Professor ? gave the other Ravenclaw back his quiz, they didn't miss the look of frustration on his face before he crumpled up the parchment and threw it in the waste bin.

Lorcan and Lysander exchanged a look and by silent agreement hung back behind the rest of the class so that they could swipe the crumpled parchment from the bin on their way out of the room.

Lysander mentally flinched. _A D, ouch._

Lorcan scanned Nicholas' answers. _It's like he didn't study at all._

 _Maybe he didn't._ Lysander crumpled the parchment back up and tossed it back into the waste bin. _D'you think we should do something?_

 _About his marks?_

 _No, you wanker, about the reason behind them._

 _His parents' divorce? What can we do about that?_

 _I don't know._

*****AMCW*****

"Aaron," said Cassiopeia, in a rare case of her putting her foot down, "I've already told you; I do not want a big party for my birthday."

"But you're turning seventeen!" the younger Gryffindor protested. "That's a big deal!"

"And it will be just as big of a deal with my closest friends as it would be with half the school. And, more to the point, I'll enjoy it more."

Aaron pouted, but acquiesced. "Fine. But Lily _is_ coming down for the Hogsmeade weekend, right?"

Cassie nodded. "Lily and Scorpius."

"Ha," said Aaron. "That should be a fun combination."

"They're not as bad as they used to be," said Cassiopeia with a rueful smile. "And they promised me they'll play nice."

*****AMCW*****

"So how long do I have you for?"

"Scorpius is coming around four, when he gets of work. Not everyone makes their own hours."

Lily and Cassiopeia were walking arm in arm down the main road of Hogsmeade, bundled up against the late January cold, the younger girl's earmuffed head resting against her girlfriend's parka-clad shoulder.

"That is an upside to running your own business," agreed Lily with a smile, her hand reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind Cassie's ear. The blonde caught the hand in her own and pulled her in for a kiss.

"I'm actually turning a profit now, which is nice."

"Nice, congratulations."

"Yeah. I mean, it's not a lot, but I'm pretty happy about it. And business is good enough that I'm starting to think seriously about hiring an assistant."

"As long as they're not cuter than me," Cassiopeia joked.

"No one's cuter than you. Well, except maybe Aurore."

Cassie laughed. "I can't argue with you on that one. How is the little trouble-maker?"

"Full of energy and curiosity," said Lily, shaking her head in fond amusement. "I don't see her as much as I'd like, just too busy, but Teddy keeps me updated. Sounds like she's still keeping his and Victoire's hands full. And her daycare's too. Apparently she let a handful of the other children on a 'mudventure." You can imagine how that turned out."

"I can indeed," said Cassiopeia with another bell-like laugh. "Victoire's put her in daycare now? I thought she was doing the stay-at-home mum thing."

"She is," said Lily. "But Aurore's at daycare part time too, so she can make friends and stuff."

"Probably a good idea," Cassiopeia acknowledged, remembering her own rather isolated childhood. Not that she had felt deprived at the time, but it had put her rather socially behind her peers when she had first come to Hogwarts. "How's her health."

Lily shrugged. "She's still small for her age and she's a little developmentally behind, with speech and motor skills and whatnot, but she's not sick or anything."

"That's good at least. Sounds like she's holding her own just fine anyway."

"Well, she come from a pretty formidable lineage."

"Indeed. I think she'll do just fine."

"You certainly did."

"Mmhmm."

Cassiopeia and Lily met up with Scorpius at the Three Broomsticks just after 4 o'clock. The older blonde stepped through the door, brushing a few fresh snowflakes off his shoulders, and then swept his little sister into his arms. Normally, the former Slytherin wasn't much of a hugger, but for Cassie he made an exception.

"Scorpius!" said Cassiopeia delightedly, letting her feet leave the floor briefly with her brother's embrace.

"Happy birthday, Cassie," said Scorpius as he put her down. "I hope you haven't ordered yet, because drinks are on me today. It's not every day your little sister turns seventeen!"

Cassiopeia grinned up at her older brother. Lily had never quite understood the relationship between her girlfriend and the elder Malfoy, who still struck her as rather pretentious and vaguely annoying, but the love between the two was undeniable.

Scorpius turned to Lily, his hand still on Cassie's shoulder. "Do you want anything, Lily?"

"What? Oh, no, thanks. I've got to get home to feed Marzipan. He tries to get a little too friendly with the post owls when he's hungry."

"It's true," Cassiopeia assured her brother, who she could tell was trying to decide whether he had just been blown off by the youngest Potter.

Scorpius shook his head. "Cats." He ordered them both butterbeers and then found them a booth near the back of the pub.

"So, how's school going? Keeping you busy?"

Cassiopeia nodded. "We've started prepping for our NEWTs in most of our classes."

Scorpius shuddered. "Ugh, so glad that's over for me. Any idea what you want to do after you graduate?"

Cassie sighed.

"Oops, I guess you're probably getting tired of hearing that, huh?"

"Just a little," said the girl with a smile. "I'm still trying to figure that out. There's always Lily's pet potion business too."

"Thinking of taking up potioneering?" Scorpius teased.

"Merlin no," said Cassie, making a face. "How's work going."

Scorpius shrugged. "Same old, same old. Not much to tell, really."

Cassiopeia tilted her head. "If you don't like it, why don't you leave?"

Her brother sighed. "It's not that easy, Cassie. I...I have been looking, but so far there aren't any openings in what I want to do. At least none that will take me."

"What do you want to do?"

Scorpius hesitated. "I...look, Cassie, you can't tell mum and dad this, ok? I haven't told anyone yet, not even Rose. But I'm looking at apprenticeships...with wandmakers."

Cassiopeia's eyes went wide, surprised both by the revelation and by her own unpreparedness for it. "I didn't know you were so interested in wandlore."

"Neither did I," Scorpius admitted. "But recently I've had the opportunity to handle some wands made by different wandmakers, and it's fascinating. The whole process of making them...I mean, they're so intrinsic to wizarding life. I'd love to be able to make something like that, to be a part of that."

"If you want to do it so badly, you definitely should," said Cassiopeia.

"The problem is, even if I do manage to get an apprenticeship...they don't pay, or at least not well. And I _know_ our family can afford that no problem. But Rose...she's a hard worker. Best damn work ethic I've ever seen. And if I can't provide for her...what will she think? What will her family think? Ron Weasley will never give me permission to marry her if he doesn't think I'm pulling my weight."

"Whoa there, slow down," said Cassie, holding up her hand. "One, Rose loves learning new things, she'd probably be thrilled at the idea. But you one hundred percent have to tell her. Two, it's 2027, the man having to provide for the woman is outdated even in the Wizarding World. Three, same on getting her father's permission. Four, we all know who's the boss in that house, and Hermione will probably have the same opinion as her daughter. Just from my observations."

Scorpius blinked at his little sister in shock. He wasn't sure he'd ever heard her say that much, that forcefully before. His little Cassie really had grown up.

When Scorpius didn't say anything, Cassie added, "But really, tell Rose. Keeping it a secret is what'll piss her off more than anything else."

"Cassie, language," Scorpius admonished, retreating to the safety of big brother mode.

"Scorp, really? I'm seventeen."

"Yes, yes you are! And I have a present for you!" He pulled a small box from the folds of his cloak.

Cassiopeia laughed and shook her head, but allowed the obvious redirection, taking the box from his hand. It was heavier than it looked, and when she untied the ribbon and lifted the top, she found an oblong shaped stone with a dull sheen to it, like oil on water, nestled in the tissue paper lining.

"Is this...?

"A dragon egg. Fossilized," Scorpius added quickly. "It's from a Dwarf Roundscale, the smallest known species of dragon. The egg came through the store a while back and I just thought it was really cool."

"It's awesome!" said Cassie, holding up the egg, which was about three times the size of her fist, for inspection. "Thanks, Scorp!"

As the girl carefully wrapped the egg back up in its protective tissue and closed the lid of the box, Scorpius glanced at his watch. "Ooh, it's later than I thought. We'd better get you back before you miss the last carriage.

"Thanks for coming out to visit me, Scorp," said Cassiopeia as her brother helped her up the steps into the carriage.

"Of course. I hope you like your gift."

"I love it," said Cassiopeia, smiling. "See you soon!"

"I hope so," said Scorpius, as the carriage began to move off toward the school

That evening, instead of joining the rest of the school in the Great Hall for dinner, Cassiopeia and her friends took a hearty spread from the kitchen up to the room of requirement, where they ate until sated (and then some) and played party games until one by one they began to doze off. The first to go was, naturally, Oliver, who nearly face-planted in his third slice of cake in the middle of a game of Would You Rather, but by half past three, even Aaron and Jenny, the most notorious night owls of the group, were fading. Monday would bring another week of ever-increasing workloads, but for now, they were all content to crawl into their sleeping bags and slip into dreamland, calling their friend's coming of age party a definite success.

 **AN: Hopefully you haven't completely forgotten about this fic while I've been without a computer of my own. I look forward to hearing from you once more :)**

 **-SQ**


	7. Backup Plan

**Author's Note: Before you read on, WAIT! I just posted an updated version of the previous chapter, which includes a revision of Cassiopeia's age (it was mentioned incorrectly as 15 turning 16, instead of 16 turning 17) and some scenes covering her birthday. I have moved the February Hogsmeade weekend to the beginning of this chapter. I apologize for the edit, but I felt it was necessary. More to the point, I apologize for the original error and skipping over Cassie's birthday entirely! I think this chapter starts to move the plot along nicely as far as Lorcan and Lysander go. It's a challenge juggling so many primary characters, lol.**

 **-SQ**

 **Disclaimer: I'm not sure I** _ **want**_ **to own all of the the most recent "canonical" (emphasis on the air quotes) addition to the Harry Potter Universe.**

 **Chapter Seven: Backup Plan**

A month later, and the winter wonderland had melted into weather that had Hogwarts' students considering boats as a viable mode of transportation to and from Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, and the Quidditch pitch. The combination of wind and freezing rain the day of February's Hogsmeade weekend was so horrendous that even Lorcan, Lysander, and Jenny were having second thoughts about braving the elements all in the name of trick wands, sweets, and butterbeer. The majority of the school was curled up in front of their common rooms' fire places with books or games. The twins had already managed to lend three different groups of studiers color-changing ink, been asked politely to stop singing "Ninety-Nine Bottles of Butterbeer on the Wall" in Gobbledegook, and replace a couple of fifth years' Exploding Snap cards with Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes singing playing cards. Twice. Jenny pulled aside the curtain for the tenth time and groaned.

"No better?" asked the twins, who were now blowing magical bubbles that refused to pop until you asked them nicely.

Jenny shook her head with an annoyed huff. "If anything, it's worse. I think we're going to have to give up on going to Hogsmeade today."

This was hardly a surprising revelation, as nearly everyone else at Hogwarts had come to this conclusion over an hour ago. As this also happened to be Valentine's Day weekend, the general mood inside the castle was rather disgruntled, to say the least. Bryan was about to throw something at Aaron if he mentioned his cancelled date with a Hufflepuff sixth year named Matthew Zeller again.

"For Merlin's sake, Aaron," he said finally, looking up from the book he was reading, "just go and find the bloke and go mess about the castle or something."

Aaron stopped mid-sentence and blinked at his best friend. "That—I—well… Yes, I think I will. Thanks, Bry."

"Anytime," said Bryan, shaking his head.

Even without Aaron moping in the armchair next to him, a common room full of cooped up Gryffindors was not the best place to read, and Bryan soon decided to relocate to the library. There he found Cassiopeia, composing a letter.

"Writing Lily?" he asked as he slid into the seat across from her. The girl nodded in affirmation. Bryan nodded back and opened his book, content to sit with his friend without disturbing her, a pastime Aaron could do with exploring.

Cassiopeia looked up from her letter writing when she felt Bryan's attention shift from his book to something on the other side of the room.

"It looks like Aaron took my advice," he said dryly, nodding at the new arrival, who was currently lip-locked with a tall, athletic-looking boy in Hufflepuff robes who Bryan could only assume was Zeller. "Though that's not quite what I meant when I said to go 'mess around' the castle." He shuddered, made a face at Cassie when she laughed good-naturedly at him, and turned resolutely back to his book.

*****AMCW*****

"Aaron and Matthew, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N—"

"Enough!" said Aaron, pretending to chuck his History of Magic book at the twins. The weather had

done a complete one-eighty in the past three days and the six friends were taking advantage of the unseasonably mild evening to do their homework outside by the last of the fading light.

"But you and Matthew are together?" pressed Jenny, as the twins continued to giggle behind their hands.

"If snogging in the library is any indication—"

"I knew it!" said Jenny gleefully.

"Well you know more than I do," snapped Aaron, his tone serious enough to quell Bryan, Jenny, and the twins. "We've been on two dates."

"Two dates in three days," pointed out Cassiopeia. "That's a pretty good indication that he's interested in you."

"That and the snogging," Bryan couldn't help but add with a grin.

Aaron brandished his book threateningly once more, but he seemed rather pleased. "We'll see. I think we're going to go to this Saturday's Quidditch game together."

"Isn't this Saturday's game Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff?" asked the twins. Jenny nodded. "Well, that should be interesting."

*****AMCW*****

Saturday morning dawned clear and mild, but with a wind strong enough that it threatened to blow the twins' matching lion-head hats, smaller versions of the famous one worn by their mother, off their heads.

"I wouldn't fancy flying in this," said Jenny, plopping herself down in the seat next to Lorcan.

"At least visibility's good," said the twins. Then, "Oy! Watch it!"

"I'd rather fly in the rain," said Jenny. "With this wind, people like Cassie and I are liable to get blown off course while the heavier players can stand their ground. Or at least sit their broom. When visibility's bad, everyone suffers equally."

"Not us," said the twins. "We'll stick to watching from the comfort of the stands. Relative comfort anyway," the amended, as the wind made another grab for their hats.

"Must you wear those things?" demanded a cross-sounding voice from behind them. "I can't bloody see!"

The twins twisted around in their seats and found the face of Nicholas Belby scowling down at them.

"Sorry mate," said Lorcan and Lysander good naturedly. "Would you like to switch places?

"Just bloody budge over, would you?" grumbled Nicholas, shifting to his left. The twins and Jenny shifted to their right accordingly.

"What's got his knickers in a twist?" muttered Jenny to the twins under her breath.

"Dunno," said Lorcan and Lysander, avoiding each other's eyes. "Maybe he's just having a bad day."

"He seems to be always having a bad day recently," said Jenny. "I think he needs a Cheering Charm. A pity we don't learn those until fifth year."

The twins were spared the trouble of coming up with a response by the arrival of the players into the pitch. They waved excitedly a Cassie, who waved back before mounting her broom in preparation for the referee's whistle.

 _Three, two, one th_ e twins counted down in their heads. _Lift off!_ With nothing of great importance riding on this game for them other than an afternoon of good entertainment, the two Scamanders settled back in their seats to watch the match. Each with a hand holding securely onto their hat, just in case.

*****AMCW*****

It was only after Cassiopeia had caught the Snitch, securing the win for Gryffindor, and the spectators began to rise from their seats and make their way out of the stands and back toward the castle, that Lorcan and Lysander realized that Nick was no longer seated behind them.

 _I didn't see him leave._

 _Me neither._

 _Do you have any idea where he might have gone?_

 _No more than you._

The twins hung back to let the crowd disperse, perfectly content to be some of the last ones back to the castle. As they were leaving the pitch, a movement from the direction of Hagrid's cabin caught their eye. The figure in the little hut's garden was too small to be the Care of Magical Creatures teacher. And Lorcan and Lysander were positive the half-giant would not be caught dead stomping all over his own vegetables.

"Hey!" shouted the twins indignantly, jogging over to the edge of the garden. "Hey, what are you doing?

Get out of there!"

The person turned around and the twins were startled to realize that it was none other than Nicholas Belby, his red eyes and puffy face bearing the unmistakable signs of a good cry.

"Go away," he said, turning his back on them once more. "Leave me alone."

"Leave Hagrid's vegetable garden alone!" the twins shot back. "The lettuces haven't done anything to you!"

Nicholas looked down at his feel with an expression of mild surprise, as though he had only just now realized where he was standing and what it was he had been kicking savagely with the toe of his trainer moments before. He stepped gingerly around the remaining garden beds and dusted off the bottom of his robes. "What?" he challenged, when he looked up to see the twins still standing there. "Here to have a good laugh at me, are you?"

"No," said Lorcan and Lysander. "We wanted to see if you were alright. Well, you and the lettuces."

"We know about the divorce," Lysander added, earning himself a mental kick from his brother. "We thought you might need a friend."

"Or two," added Lorcan, seeing as the cat was out of the bag.

Nicholas looked between the two of them. "You just spoke by yourselves. Not together."

"You said it freaks you out when we say things together," said Lysander. "We figured you were freaked out enough."

"Also, I wasn't going to blurt out that we knew like that."

Then what the twins had said caught up with how they had said it. "Wait, how do you know about the divorce!?"

"Someone insisted on snooping into your mail," said Lorcan, looking pointedly at Lysander.

"We only read the first couple sentences."

"Sorry," they said together.

"Bloody hell," said Nicholas, running a hand through his hair. "A bloke's mail is private, you know!"

"That's what I told—"

"Oh bugger off, you read it too," said Lysander. "We only wanted to know what was going on," he added to Nicholas.

"You haven't been yourself lately," Lorcan agreed. "We were worried about you."

Nicholas stared at them. "You were worried about me? Like, worried that I was touched in the head?"

The twins shook their heads. "No, worried that something was going on. And we were right, weren't we?"

"Well, yeah," Nicholas admitted. "But there's nothing you can do. There's nothing anyone can do."

"We can listen," said the twins.

For a minute Nicholas looked like he was going to shut down again, but then he took a deep breath and scrubbed a hand over his tear-stained face.

"This past August, right before the term started, my Dad found out that my Mum's been cheating on him."

"Oh. Shit."

"Yeah, pretty much. My sister hasn't spoken to her since."

And so for the next hour and a half, Lorcan, Lysander, and Nick sat at the edge of Hagrid's garden, Nick mostly talking, Lorcan and Lysander mostly listening, until their rumbling stomachs summoned them inside to ask the houselves for something to eat, as they had missed lunch.

Hagrid, on his way back from walking Claw, saw the three boys sitting there but, recognizing the looks on their faces as those of students who did not wish to be disturbed or overheard, went as quietly as he could into his house and put his noisiest tea kettle on to boil.

*****AMCW*****

With Aaron spending nearly every free moment when he wasn't doing homework or studying for his OWLS with Matthew, and the twins' sudden new friendship with Nicholas Belby, Bryan found himself spending a lot of his evenings in the library helping Oliver with his homework. Often, when Cassiopeia and Jenny weren't at Quidditch practice, the girls would join them for a proper study session. While Bryan and Aaron were the ones who had brought Oliver into their group, it was quickly becoming apparent that Jenny and Cassie were the ones the first year was drawn to. He still didn't speak much, but he listened intently to the girls' conversations, his long-lashed green eyes studying their every move. Actually, it was a little unnerving. Not creepy or anything, just the kind of thing that you could never quite fully get used to. If it bothered the girls, though, they didn't let on, and Oliver was a sweet, earnest

kid, so Bryan let it go. Merlin knew everyone in their group had their own little oddities. And anyone who was friends with the Scamander twins had learned to embrace the slightly abnormal.

*****AMCW*****

March was an uneventful month, and as it drew to a close, the main topic of conversation was what the Scamander twins had planned for their annual April Fool's Day Prank Fest. Every year, on April first, the two blondes pulled off a series of escalating joked over the course of the day, beginning, everyone swore, the moment the first person awoke in the castle, and ending at the stroke of midnight. Apart from these two sure bookends, the schedule of mischief and mayhem varied from year to year, so that no one could be quite sure when the next bit of hilarity would ensue. When the twins had first come to Hogwarts with the intention of bringing their Prank Fest tradition along with them, they had consulted the remaining member of the past generation's reigning prank duo, George Weasley, as to whether he would mind such an event marking his and the late Fred's birthday for the next seven years. George, of course, was delighted, and even offered to provide Lorcan and Lysander with any Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products they may need for their April Fool's Day shenanigans free of charge.

"Nick," said Lorcan and Lysander seriously and unexpectedly one evening in mid-March, as the three boys sat together comparing their star charts for Astronomy later that night, "would you like to help us with some of our April Fool's Day plans?"

Nicholas stared at them as though they had just asked him if he wanted to ditch class and go on a broom ride to the moon instead, which, as far as he was concerned, they might as well have.

"Er, pardon?"

"Would you like to help us with some of our April Fool's Day plans?" the twins repeated blandly, as though asking him to pass the marmalade. "We have some ideas that will run much more smoothly with a third person."

"You wouldn't be in on everything, of course," said Lorcan.

"Just a few choice pranks," Lysander confirmed with a nod of his tousled blonde head.

"But we would really appreciate your help with a few of the details," they both continued. "If you're willing. No pressure. Well, almost no pressure." They grinned rakishly.

"Yeah, yeah, alright," said Nick, his face slowly lighting up and breaking into a grin as he warmed to the idea. "Yeah, 'course, I'd love to. What did you have in mind?"

*****AMCW*****

Teaching someone the ins and outs of practical joking was great fun. In fact, teaching someone period

was great fun, the twins discovered, as they and Nick sat huddled in an unused classroom in an out of the way corner of the castle, pouring over lists and enchanted diagrams that became three dimensional when you tapped them with your wand.

"I never knew there was so much planning that went into your pranks," said Nick in something akin to awe, prodding the 3-D model of the kitchens currently laid out on the table in front of him.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," said the twins, as Lorcan scratched out the words "blue food" and replaced them with "green eggs and ham." ("More recognizable," agreed Lysander.) "We've been working on this since the beginning of term."

"How do you find the time?"

"No Quidditch."

"No clubs."

"Don't care about getting the highest marks in the class as long as they're still decent."

"You probably could if you wanted to," said Nick. "You guys are brilliant."

Lorcan and Lysander shrugged. "Getting the highest marks in Ravenclaw is like being the best singer in a choir. Admirable, and difficult, but not particularly interesting or unique. Besides, there are many kinds of intelligence, and school marks are a flawed measure at best."

"That makes me feel simultaneously better about the lower marks I've gotten this term, and worse about the higher marks I got in the past," said Nick with a laugh.

"The only marks you should be worrying about right now," said the twins, "are the ones on this diagram. Now, the entrance to the kitchens is this one here…"

*****AMCW*****

"How come you never let me in on your April Fool's Day plans?" Jenny pouted at the twins as they walked back up to Ravenclaw Tower following dinner. "I bet I'd be brilliant at it!"

"You wouldn't be able to keep quiet about them for three days," said Lorcan and Lysander. "Let alone three weeks. Besides," they added, "you have other things to focus on, like Quidditch. Nick needed a distraction, something to make him feel included and take his mind off…things. Your mind's distracted enough already!" they joked.

They answered the guardian's riddle and stepped into the common room, nearly crashing into Nick himself, who was standing on the other side of the door with an odd, twisted sort of look on his face.

"Hi Nick, what's up?"

"Oh, you know, just overhearing conversations about how you're only hanging out with me and including me in things because you pity me. The usual. You?"

The twins exchanged an _Oh, shit_ look.

"Nick—"

"No, I get it," said the other boy bitterly. "It makes sense, I mean, I should have been suspicious when you took such a sudden interest in me. I guess I seemed like a hurt puppy, pouring all my feelings out to you. A pet you could take home and nurse back to health. A pity project. Well, I don't want your pity and all the practical jokes in the world won't get my parents back together. So thanks, but no thanks; you can count me out of your April Fool's Day plans."

"Wait, what?"

"Oh come on, I just heard you, you only asked me so I would 'feel included.' I'm sure you'll be glad to get me out of your hair."

"No, Nick, we want your help!" said the twins urgently. "You're a really important part of—"

"Oh save it," said Nick tiredly. "She seemed eager enough to help you out," he said, jerking his head toward Jenny, who was watching the exchange wide-eyed from the corner. "If you need a third person so much, why don't you ask her?"

The twins rounded on Jenny with identical accusing looks, as though this turn of events was her fault, and when they turned back to face the room, Nick had disappeared up the boys' staircase.

*****AMCW*****

The thing was, while Lorcan and Lysander may have originally extended their offer to Nick as a way to distract him from what was going on at home, they had fully embraced the idea of his participation in their April Fool's plans, and his sudden withdrawal from the operation necessitated some hasty reworking and last minute changes in order to pull everything off properly. Because Nick had been serious when he said he no longer wanted to be involved. He was perfectly cordial, if a little distant, to the Scamanders in class and when their paths happened to cross in public areas of the castle, such as the Great Hall or the Ravenclaw Common Room, but the second the three of them were alone together, it was as though the other two had ceased to exist.

Still, the twins were pros, with an ability for single-minded focus like no other when it suited them, and they went to bed the night of March 30th tired but confident that by the end of the next day, the stage would be set for their most ambitious April Fool's Day to date.

*****AMCW*****

"Ly. Ly. Lysander."

Lysander woke up disoriented, unsure whether Lorcan's voice was speaking out loud or in his head. It sounded muffled, as though his twin were speaking from behind a thick curtain, but the hangings between their two beds were open as usual.

"Lor? Whazamatter?" Lysander sat up and squinted at his brother through the semi-darkness. It may have been the silvery wash of the pre-dawn moonlight, but Lorcan's face looked pale, and he was shivering in his hippogriff pajamas.

"I don't feel well," said Lorcan in that same, muffled sounding voice, and Lysander realized that his twin sounded hoarse and congested. Lysander scooted across his bed to press a hand to his brother's forehead. It was warm and damp with sweat.

A stab of concern mingled with empathetic pain went through Lysanders gut. "Lor, I think you're sick."

 _And you?_

Lysander shook his head, baffled. "No." He quickly evaluated himself. I _feel fine._ This had never happened before. Always if one of them was sick, so was the other. That's just how it was. Like them speaking in tandem and knowing what the other was thinking.

Lorcan coughed and Lysander directed his focus back to his brother. "We should get you to the hospital wing. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will be able to fix you right up."

Lysander slung his brother's arm around his shoulders and wrapped his own arm around Lorcan's waist, along with the blanket the other boy was still wrapped in.

"I look like a toddler," muttered Lorcan, clearing his throat painfully and tugging the corner of the blanket up so he and Lysander didn't step on it on their way down the stairs from Ravenclaw Tower.

"A bit big for a toddler," Lysander joked. "C'mon, all you look is ill."

 _Gee, thanks._

 _What? It's the truth!_

Madam Pomfrey answered their knock in her nightgown and slippers, but was alert and business-like as

she checked Lorcan over with her usual air of maternal efficiency, peering in his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth before casting a series of diagnostic spells and taking note of his vitals readings.

"A nasty case of the flu," said the healer. "Fourth one this week. It's that time of the year, I suppose. Though this is a nastier strain than I've seen hit the castle in the past several years."

"You'll be able to fix him, though, right?" said Lysander anxiously, watching his brother cough and shiver on the hospital-white bed, wrapped in his blue and bronze Ravenclaw blanket Molly Weasley (Percy's mother, not his daughter) had knitted for him a few years back.

"Don't you worry," said Madame Pomfrey, turning to her potions cabinet and selecting several vials. "A few days of rest and regular doses of these, and your brother should be back on his feet in time to enjoy the weekend."

The twins looked at each other in horror.

"The weekend? But April Fool's Day is tomorrow!"

"I work magic, Mr. Scamander, not miracles," said Madam Pomfrey with a frown that said plainly just what she thought about April Fool's Day. "With luck you'll be on your feet by Friday, but not before. I don't want this thing spreading through the school any more than it has to. I'll have my hands full as it is, I'm sure."

Lorcan and Lysander were at an utter loss. Never, ever had one of them done April Fool's Day without the other. The truth was, they had barely ever done anything without the other. Lorcan and Lysander Scamander were a packaged deal. But now not only was Lorcan confined to the hospital wing for the next several days, but Madam Pomfrey was ushering Lysander out of the room, saying that his brother needed rest and he should follow suit if he knew what was good for him.

There was, of course, no question of Lysander going back to sleep. Lorcan, sick as he was and drugged up on potions, might have managed it, but the twins had never spent a night apart before in their lives, plus Lysander was kind of freaking out about the unthinkable and yet very real possibility that they would have to cancel their April Fool's Day plans. There was absolutely no way he was going to be able to pull off half of what they had planned on his own, and he had just over twenty-four hours to figure out an alternative. But who could replace Lorcan on such short notice? Well, obviously no one could replace Lorcan, but who could fill his shoes for this one day? Who knew enough about what they had planned to help Lysander pull it off? No one. Wait, no, someone…

*****AMCW*****

"Nick, can I please talk to you? It's urgent."

Nick gave Lysander an annoyed look and gestured to his food as though to say, "Hello, I'm eating

breakfast here."

Lysander shifted restlessly from foot to foot. "Nick, please."

Nick opened his mouth to refuse, and then seemed to take note of Lorcan's absence; he looked over Lysander's shoulder in apparent confusion and then reluctantly excused himself from breakfast to follow the other boy into the Entrance Hall.

"What do you want? Where's Lorcan?"

"In the hospital wing."

"What? Is he okay?"

"Yeah," said Lysander. "He'll be fine. But not until Friday or Saturday. Not by tomorrow."

"Not for April Fool's Day," said Nick, the significance of this hitting him.

Lysander shook his head helplessly. "Nick, I need your help. Please. I can't do it alone and you're the only other person who knows our plans. You can go back to not talking to us after tomorrow if you want."

The three seconds it took for Nick to reply seemed like an age.

"Alright, then. What do I need to do?"

 **AN: Drama! Lol. Ok, so, not the world is ending, high stakes drama, but I hope you still find it interesting. Drop me a review and let me know?**

 **-SQ**


	8. April Fools!

**Author's Note: Slow but steady wins the race? Lol. Thanks for sticking with me guys.**

 **-SQ**

 **Disclaimer: I actually read a really interesting history of the disclaimer recently.**

 **Chapter Eight: April Fools!**

"That. Was. Hilarious."

Lysander and Nick were leaning against the castle wall, breathless with the laughter they had been barely containing while watching their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor take the mickey out of a very confused Peeves. He had gone on for a good five minutes before realizing that the poltergeist couldn't have possibly been responsible for the reorganization of all the books in his classroom by color, as he had been on the opposite end of the castle hiding whoopie cushions under the seat cushions in the Divination tower.

Lysander nodded, then remembered that this wasn't his brother and he actually had to speak aloud. "The books were great enough on their own-"

"-A first rate plan on your and Lorcan's part-"

"-but Peeves..."

The two boys collapsed into another fit of laughter.

"C'mon," said Lysander at last, when he could speak again without giggling. "Let's go drop off our things and get to the Great Hall. We don't want to be late to dinner."

"Oh no," said Nick, a mischevious gleam in his eye. "We definitely don't want that."

*****AMCW*****

Nick and Lysander were not late for dinner. In fact, they were two of the first ones there, even before most of the faculty and staff. They took a pair of seats together at the far end of the Ravenclaw table, which gave them the perfect vantage point from which to see the Headmaster enter the Great Hall. To the accompaniment of the Imperial Death March.

"Doctor Suess for breakfast and Star Wars for dinner?" said Jenny dryly sliding into the seat next to Lysander.

"Hey, you understood the references," Lysander pointed out.

"Only because I'm friends with you," said Jenny, shaking her head and loading her plate with shepherd's pie. "At least lunch had a wizarding reference."

"Lysander and Lorcan had to explain them to me," Nick admitted.

"How is Lorcan?"

"Ill," said Lysander. "I went to see him after lunch and report on how April Fools is going. Nick really saved the day on that one."

The other boy shrugged uncomfortably. "You didn't give me much choice."

*****AMCW*****

After dinner, Lysander went back to the hospital wing to check on his brother again. Lorcan was sitting up in bed, sipping a steaming, pleasant-smelling beverage and looking a great deal better than he had earlier in the day.

"You still alive?" asked Lysander as he plopped himself down on the side of Lorcan's bed.

"Last I checked," replied his twin, setting down the cup. "Still feel like rubbish, but my fever's gone down a little. How're you and Nick getting on?"

Lysander shrugged. _I dunno how we're getting on, exactly, but at least the pranks are going well._

 _I guess that's all we can hope for at the moment._

 _Mmhmm._

Whatever was in the drink Madam Pomfrey had given Lorcan soon had him nodding off, so Lysander pulled the comforter up over his brother's shoulders and left the hospital wing. Nick was waiting for him in the Ravenclaw common room.

"Are they ready?"

The other boy nodded.

"Well, I'll see you when it's time, then?"

"Yeah."

"Ok."

Lysander ran a hand through his hair, making the fine strands stand on end. And here he had been thinking that he and Nick had almost become friends again. Well, he had some time to kill, might as well get to work on his homework. Merlin knew there was enough of it.

*****AMCW*****

At ten minutes to midnight, Lysander and Nick met on the roof outside the third year Ravenclaw dormitory, where the twins often sat to watch the sunrise. Part of Lysander balked at bringing another person into his and his brother's special place, but he had already brought Nick into their April Fool's Day tradition and, much like that, he didn't have much of a choice. Anyway it was certainly too late to back out now.

"I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to be out here," Nick commented as they inched forward on their stomachs until their heads and shoulders were hanging off the roof, giving them a clear view of the ground below.

"And you're just worried about that now?"

"Just pointing it out."

"Why don't you point out where you put the fireworks instead?"

"There," said Nick, pointing with his lit wand at a spot almost directly below them. "Right next to that divet in the earth."

Lysander squinted in the wandlight. "Ah yes, I see them. Hold me, would you?"

"Wha-? Be careful!" said Nick, grabbing onto Lysander's waist as he inched farther out on the roof, so that his whole upper body was dangling off the edge.

"That's good," Lysander grunted, pointing his wand at the line of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes' Wet Start Fireworks. "Now be ready to pull me up. Aguamenti!"

Lysander released a stream of water over the line of fireworks and was then jerked back onto the safety of the roof right before they went off in his face. The two boys landed in a tangled heap and hurriedly helped each other scramble to their feet just in time to see George Weasley's custom made fireworks spell out APRIL FOOLS above the entire castle.

"Wow," said Nick and Lysander in unison, still clutching each other for balance on their precarious perch on the roof. Nick was larger than Lorcan and Lysander, who were both slender and not particularly tall, and the amount of space he took up on the ledge made Lysander wonder how much longer her and his brother would fit comfortably up here together.

They kept their gazes turned upward until the last of the sparks faded from sight, then turned to face each other and found that they were nose-to-nose.

"Today was really fun," said Nick. "Thanks for including me."

"Thanks for helping. I couldn't have done it without you."

Afterwards, Lysander was never a hundred percent sure which one of them had initiated the kiss. It was brief and a bit awkward, but not unpleasant. Nick's lips were slightly chapped and he smelled like sweat and singed night air. Lysander had just enough time to register that he was having his first kiss before both of them pulled away.

"Was that an April Fools?" said Nick, looking as disoriented as Lysander felt.

"N-no," stammered the blonde. "I don't think so. It just seemed like the thing to do."

"Yeah," said Nick, licking his lips. "I guess it did." It was past midnight, but neither of them felt remotely tired. Wordlessly, they settled back against the outer wall of the castle, their shoulders not quite touching. After a few minutes, Lysander reached out and took Nick's hand. The other boy started slightly, but left his hand in Lysander's, the hint of a smile playing on his lips.

Eventually Lysander removed his hand to cover a yawn.

"We should probably go back inside," said Nick through a yawn of his own.

"Right, yeah, good idea."

The two third years climbed back through the window into their dormitory.

"Well," said Nick, turning toward his bed. "Goodnight, then, Lysander. See you in the morning?"

"Yeah," said Lysander. "Definitely. Goodnight, Nick. Sleep well."

*****AMCW*****

"So, how did it go? Was it epic?"

Lysander grinned. _Yeah, it was pretty epic._ In more ways than one.

 _I saw the fireworks last night._ "Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let me climb out on the roof to get a better look."

Lorcan was feeling much more like himself, and Madam Pomfrey predicted that she would be able to release him by the end of the day.

"Hopefully everyone saw the fireworks last night," said Lysander, still grinning. _Considering I nearly killed myself setting them off._

"Nick didn't drop you on your head, then?"

 _If he did, it was hard enough that I don't remember it._ Lysander joked.

"I'm glad everything worked out." _With Nick._

"What?"

 _What?_ Lorcan's eyes narrowed in confusion, then got very wide. _Oh, wow._ He lifted his pale brows at his brother, a smile spreading across his face. _You and Nick. Nice. And unexpected. He's cute, though. I approve._

 _Can't I keep anything from you?_ Thought Lysander in amused exasperation.

 _Would you want to?_

"Alright, Master Scamander, time for your potion. Yes, I know you're feeling better, and we want to keep you that way, so drink up."

*****AMCW*****

By the time Lorcan was done picking Lysander's brain (partially literally) for details on him and Nick, it was time for Lysander to leave if he didn't want to be late to his first class. The blonde slid into his seat right as the bell rang. While he was bent over his bookbag looking for his parchment and quill, he felt a tap on his shoulder and looked up to see Nick standing next to his desk with a piece of marmalade toast in his hand.

"Didn't see you at breakfast. Figured you might be hungry."

At the sight of the toast, Lysander's stomach let out an audible grumble.

"You figured right," he said, taking the toast with a smile, which the other boy returned somewhat shyly.

"Take out your wands, please!" said Professor Patil, rapping her own smartly against her desk for their attention. "Today we will be transforming teapots into tortoises. I do not expect any of you to succeed on your first attempt, or indeed most of you to perfect the spell by the end of the class."

Of course, this being a class full of Ravenclaws and Gryffindors, a large portion of the students took this as a personal challenge. Which, perhaps, was exactly Professor Patil's intention. In any case, while no one did succeed on their first attempt, the majority of the class ended the lesson with at least a passable tortoise blinking balefully up at them from their desks. Lysander also had a strong craving for a good cup of tea, but maybe that was just him.

"How's Lorcan doing?" said Jenny, falling into step beside Lysander as they left the classroom. "And why were you late to class?"

"I wasn't late," retorted Lysander. "I was right on time. And I was seeing Lorcan, who's doing a lot better. He should be out of the hospital wing by the end of the day."

"Is he bored out of his mind cooped up in there?" Jenny asked. "I know I would be."

"Pretty much," said Lysander, chuckling. "Though he's handling it better than you undoubtedly would. Anyway, today's the first day he's been well and awake enough to really be bored."

"And how are you doing without him?" the girl asked shrewdly

"It's been weird," Lysander admitted.

"It's been weird to hear an individual Scamander voice," said Jenny, only half joking. "I think most of the school had forgotten you were two separate people."

"Double the Scamanders, double the fun," said Aaron, who was coming out of the History of Magic classroom as the third years were going in. "Something which is severely lacking in there."

"Yeah, well, what else is new?" said Jenny. She went to slap Bryan, who had followed Aaron out of the classroom, on the ass, but he caught her by the wrist.

"Lorcan may allow you to do that, but I do not," he told her firmly. "Hands to yourself, please."

Jenny had the decency to look chagrined, an expression the feisty Ravenclaw did not often wear.

"Yeah, Jenny," quipped Aaron, "you have your own ass, don't be greedy. Though I have to admit," he added to Bryan as they continued down the corridor, yours is pretty cute-in a complete platonic way!" he finished hurriedly as Bryan glared at him. "And of course it has nothing on Matthew's."

"Did I hear my name?" said the Hufflepuff, appearing so suddenly between the two friends that he made Bryan jump,

"Just waxing poetic about your ass," said Aaron with a smirk.

"I'm sure Bryan really wants to hear that," said Matthew sarcastically.

"Thank you," said the other boy emphatically.

*****AMCW*****

Cassiopeia had never and would never like potions. Well, no, she took that back. Potions the noun were fine and often very useful. But Potions the proper noun, Potions the class, which involved potioneering the verb, was definitely not her proverbial cup of tea. Actually, a cup of tea sounded awfully good right now. Her head was starting to hurt as though she were inhaling the fumes of an actual potion, rather than just reading about them in her textbook. A study break was surely in order.

Mostly as an excuse to stretch her legs, but also because the house elves brewed far a superior pot tea to the conjured variety, Cassiopeia tucked her homework away into her bookbag and set off down the many staircases from Gryffindor tower to the Hogwarts kitchens. Of course, it wasn't nearly as long of a walk as it would have been if she hadn't had a Potter/Weasley level of knowledge of the castle's secret passageways.

Several minutes later, the girl was approaching the entrance to the kitchens. Before she could reach out her hand to tickle the appropriate piece of painted produce, however, the painting swung aside to reveal the small black and yellow clad form of Oliver Brown, his arms full of biscuits.

"Well hello there," said Cassie in a tone of mild surprise. "Having an afternoon snack?"

Oliver started, several of his biscuits tumbling to the floor. "Oh, erm, yeah, I was just, yeah, getting a snack," he finished lamely, bending down to retrieve the errant pastries.

"Here, let me help you," said Cassie, kneeling to help him. "Looks like you struck gold in there," she added. "Do you think they'd have any left for me?"

"You know how to get into the kitchens?" asked Oliver, his surprise momentarily overriding his awkwardness.

"I could ask you the same thing," said Cassiopeia.

"I'm a Hufflepuff," said Oliver, as though that explained everything. "You're a Gryffindor."

"Yes," agreed Cassiopea. "I am. So were Fred and George Weasley."

"Right. Anyway, I'm sure they still have plenty of biscuits left for you if you want some."

"I just might at that. They look like they'll go well with the tea I was coming for."

Oliver's face contorted into an unintentional expression of distaste.

Cassiopeia raised an elegant eyebrow. "Not a fan of tea?"

Oliver shook his head. "I know, I know, what kind of Brit doesn't like tea, right? But it just tastes like bitter water to me. Ugh."

He made a face again and Cassiopeia laughed. "To each their own. I don't judge."

Oliver chewed his lip as though deciding whether to say something more. He had already stepped pretty far outside of his comfort zone by engaging Cassiopeia in conversation at all. But it had been surprisingly easy. Easier, in fact, then talking to some of his own year and housemates. And he did very much want to be her friend, perhaps more than he had desired anyone else's friendship before.

"You can have some of my biscuits if you want. You know, just in case they are out after all."

Cassiopeia smiled at the first year's awkward show of enthusiasm; of course, she was one to talk. "I wouldn't want to deprive you of any of your hard earned biscuits. But if you wait here a moment, I can pop in and get my own and then we can eat them together. If you don't have other plans."

Oliver shook his head. "Just homework, but I'm taking a break."

"Me too. It must be fate If you want to go back and grab yours while I'm in the kitchens, I can help you when we're done with our snacks. If you'd like help, that is."

"Yeah, erm, sure," said Oliver, shifting his weight back and forth as if not entirely sure of his answer. He certainly didn't believe in fate. At least, he was pretty sure he didn't, but this was an awfully good coincidence to pass up. Part of him wanted to jump at the opportunity to spend time with Cassiopeia, not to mention get some help with the trickier bits of his homework, but the more cautious part was having trouble believing that the sixth year would take such an interest in him when his own brother found him boring. Hell, he found himself boring. But, he reflected, maybe not quite as boring as homework.

"Yeah, okay," he said again. "I'll be right back."

*****AMCW*****

 _Dear Lily,_

 _How are you, my fleur de lis? I hope you're doing well, and I can't wait to see you next Hogsmeade weekend!_

 _Do you remember the first year Hufflepuff, Oliver? He and I had tea the other day and he's really an interesting kid once you get him to open up. I'm still working on it, but so far I've found out that he has a pet cat named Jungle Puss, his favorite subject is Charms, and he doesn't like tea. I also helped him with his Potions homework. Laugh all you want, Lily Potter, but he said I was "a lot of help." So there._

 _Anyway, how's the search for an assistant going? I'm glad the business is going well enough that you need one now. I was talking to Oliver about you and he promised to let me know if Jungle Puss needs any potions. He agrees with me that it's a good thing that people like you exist, so people like us don't have to worry about potion making outside of class! ;)_

 _I love you, Lily, and I'll see you soon_

 _Your Cassiopeia_

*****AMCW*****

 _Cassie,_

 _I'm doing well, keeping busy as usual and definitely looking forward to Hogsmeade :)_

 _Aww, Jungle Puss is a cute name. Let your friend know I'd be happy to give him a discount on his first purchase. I'm glad people like you and him exist-you keep me in business! And obviously I'm glad you exist for entirely different reasons ;)_

 _No assistant yet, but I have a couple interviews set up this week (wow, that sounds so official, haha), so I'll keep you posted._

 _Kisses,_

 _Lily_

 **AN: I know there end up being kind of a lot of POV characters in this fic. Let me know how this is working out and if it's too confusing/distracting? Not that I can change it at this point, lol, but I can try to do a better job with handling/balancing them all based on your feedback.**

 **-SQ**


	9. Springtime for Hogwarts

**Author's Note: What the hell happened, Snakequeen? Well. So. I had this ENTIRE CHAPTER written. I wrote it on the cruise ship. Just had to edit it & post it. Went to open the document. And there was no record whatsoever of me having even opened the document since May. I had this beautiful cherry blossom scene written that I loved, and a bunch of other stuff that I barely even remember, and it just vanished into thin air. So I had to go back and try to recreate my cherry blossom scene, and then continue the chapter from scratch, with only the vaguest recollection of what I had intended to happen. And now, here it is, the goddamn cherry blossom scene, and everything that follows.**

 **-SQ**

 **Disclaimer: I would just like to own a computer that doesn't delete 3000+ words of work .**

 **Chapter Nine: Springtime for Hogwarts**

Cassiopeia breathed in the warm spring air, which carried with it the scent of a multitude of flowers newly in bloom. It was the first really nice day of spring; almost too warm for the creamy yellow cardigan she wore over her pale pink dress and brown leggings. She had, naturally, been one of the first students out of the castle this morning, sharing the carriage to Hogsmeade with a pair of fourth-year Hufflepuffs and a half asleep Slytherin seventh-year.

They arrived in the village half an hour before Cassie was due to meet Lily, which meant about forty-five minutes before the other girl would actually arrive. Taking advantage of the mild weather and the morning solitude, Cassie stopped in at Madame Puddifoot's for a cup of tea to go (they really did have the best tea) and then went to wait for Lily at their appointed meeting place near the far entrance to the village.

"Excuse me, miss?"

Cassiopeia looked up into the round, boyish face of man with mousy brown hair and a light blue polo shirt. The man was short, less than a head taller than herself, and if it hadn't been for the slight crow's feet at the corners of his eyes and the streaks of grey near his temples, she would have thought him hardly older than Lily. As it was, Cassie pegged him to be closer to her parents' age. He was holding a camera and wore a look of nervous excitement.

"I'm Dennis Creevey," said the man, holding out one of his hands for her to shake. She took it. "Photographer. Could I possibly take your picture?"

Cassie blinked at him. "Erm, not to be rude, but why?"

"Oh no, not at all. You're not being rude, I mean," said Dennis. "I'm probably being rude without realizing it; I do that a lot. I really like the image of you under the cherry trees," he continued. "That's what I came here to shoot, the cherry blossoms. I do nature photography, mostly. And candids, events, that sort of thing. But I think you underneath the trees would make a great shot. If you're not in a hurry."

Cassie shook her head. "No, no hurry. I'm waiting for my girlfriend. I guess you can photograph me if you'd like. What should I do?"

Dennis grinned. "Just exactly what you were doing. Don't look at the camera, look at the blossoms, pretend I'm not even here."

That was easier said than done. Cassiopeia tilted her face up toward the flowers, feeling awkward and self conscious. They were pretty. Pale pink petals with a darker pink at the center, fading out to almost white around the edges. So many different shades in one blossom. They smelled good too; fresh and sweet, like spring. Cassie stood on her tiptoes and pulled the branch down closer to her nose.

"Cassie, are you a model now?"

Lily's voice broke through her reverie, startling her and almost making her drop her tea. A couple drops splashed out onto her hand and she winced, licking them off hurriedly. Stepping back from the cherry tree, she released the branch she had been holding, which sprung back into place, showering her with pink petals.

"Hi, Lily. This is Dennis Creevey. He's a photographer."

"I can see that," said Lily, eyeing the man cautiously. He looked harmless enough, but looks could be deceiving, and he had been photographing her seventeen-year-old girlfriend. "How did you two meet?"

"Just now," said Dennis. "I'm afraid I imposed on her for a impromptu photoshoot. I'm sorry, I didn't even catch your name."

"Cassiopeia," said Cassie. "Cassiopeia Malfoy."

"And Lily Potter."

"Malfoy. Potter. I went to school with your parents, they were a few years ahead of me. Here, come and look at the photos before you go, tell me if you like them."

The two girls gathered around Dennis' camera. It was a fancy digital model with a high resolution, digital display screen; not the norm in the magical world, which still mostly dealt in film.

"Wow," said Lily. "These are really good."

"You think so?" said Dennis, obviously pleased.

She did think so. So did Cassiopeia. The blonde's hair fell away from her upturned face and down her back like liquid, the morning sunlight glinting off it and illuminating her look of contentment as she reached out to cup the blush colored blossoms in her hand. Her other hand clutched her cup of tea, from which rose a thin but steadily curling wisp of steam. In her pink dress and creamy yellow cardigan, Cassie almost looked like a cherry blossom herself.

"Could I get copies of these?"

"Of course!" said Dennis at once. "I should have offered. If you have email, I can email you the edited files right away. Would you be okay with me posting the photos on my website? I'm not planning on selling them or anything, and I can credit you by name or not, whichever you prefer."

After a brief consultation with Lily, Cassiopeia agreed to allow Dennis to post the photos on his website, but decided she would rather remain anonymous. The girls quickly exchanged emails with the photographer and then bid him farewell, starting their leisurely walk back into town.

"He seemed nice," said Lily, as they picked their way along the unfrequented, more scenic path, one both girls were familiar with from an adventure, or rather misadventure, several years previously.

"Mmhmm," said Cassie. "Really nice photos too."

Lily nodded. "And a really nice day. I was getting pretty tired of cold and rain. Yes, yes, I know, you like all kinds of weather. But I don't!"

Cassie laughed her bell-like laugh and wrapped her arm around her girlfriend's waist, nuzzling her face into the older girl's shoulder. She smelled good; like copper and fire and cedar shavings.

"Have you found an assistant yet?"

"I have actually!" said Lily. "I meant to tell you and it totally slipped my mind! Harper started last week and it's already made a big difference."

"I'm glad," said Cassie, squeezing Lily's hand. "What's Harper like?"

"Quiet, bookish, with a wicked sense of humor," said Lily. Right up your alley. I can't wait for you two to meet next time you're home. I think you'd really hit it off."

"You know who else we should see next time I'm home?" said Cassie, as they continued down the path. "Jo, Emily, and Leslie."

"Merlin, you're right!" said Lily. "It's been forever. I'll bet Leslie's nearly as tall as you by now. I'll have Harper put it on my calendar." She pulled out a Muggle ballpoint pen and wrote on the palm of her hand _Call Jo and Emily_. _Tell Harper!_ "Harper won't let me forget." She tucked hte pen back into her pocket and shook her head. "I must sound absolutely daft."

Cassie shook her head, smiling. "No, you just sound like Lily. My Lily." She stood on her tiptoes to give her girlfriend a kiss.

"I like being your Lily," said the redhead, squeezing the smaller girl around the middle.

The two continued walking, hand in hand, catching each other up on their lives more thoroughly than mere letters had allowed.

"What time are we meeting the others again?" asked Lily after a few minutes, glancing at her watch. It was just after ten.

"Half past eleven at the Three Broomsticks," said Cassie. "And I'm under very strict instructions not to be late and hog you all to myself."

It was Lily's turn to laugh. "What if I want you to hog me all to yourself?" she teased, tugging on the shorter girl's silvery hair.

"You don't have to live with Bryan and Aaron. I do!"

Lily laughed again. "Fair enough. At least we still have some time alone together. Let's make the most of it."

Cassiopeia nodded in perfect agreement.

*****AMCW*****

Lysander was dangling upside down off his bed, watching his boyfriend search his trunk for his missing socks.

"Why don't they ever go missing in pairs?" said Nick, throwing up his hands in despair. "I wouldn't even realize they were gone if they disappeared in pairs!"

"My mum knew a house elf who only wore mismatched socks," said Lysander, picking up a bouncy ball off the floor, attempting to toss it from his inverted position, and dropping it on his nose.

Nick picked up the ball, which had rolled across the floor and bumped against his foot, and stared at Lysander. "Your mum knew a house elf that wore clothes?"

Lysander flipped himself right side up and nodded, rubbing his nose. "Yep."

"Man, your family is weird."

"Yep."

Nick shook his head fondly and went back to looking for his missing socks.

"Nick?" said Lysander a few minutes later.

"Uh-huh?" said Nick, who had given the socks up as a lost cause and was now sitting next to Lysander on his bed, idly tossing the bouncy ball back and forth with his boyfriend and wondering how long they had before their alone time was cut short by Scamander Number Two. He liked Lorcan, he did, but sometimes he felt like he was dating both Lysander and his twin.

Lysander caught the ball and held it up to the light, examining the spikes of rainbow light that refracted through the rubbery plastic. "Have you ever been to Comic Con?"

"Have I ever been to what now?"

Lysander set the ball down on the bed and turned his baby blue gaze on his boyfriend. "Comic Con. A Comic Book Convention. Although at this point that's pretty much a misnomer; the conventions cover a whole lot more than just comics. You can find representation from just about every fandom you can think of, from video games to classic literature."

"Every what-dom?"

"Fandom," said Lysander patiently. "Basically a group of people who are fans of a thing and build a culture or community around it," he explained.

"Like Quidditch fans?" Nick teased.

"I mean...kinda," said Lysander seriously."But I don't think you're going to find anything Quidditch related at Comic Con."

"I'd have to actually go to this Comic Con thing to find anything there," Nick pointed out.

"So you haven't been?"

"To a comic convention?" said Nick. He shook his head. "No."

"Would you like to?"

"I've never really thought about it. Is this a hypothetical or an invitation?"

"...both?"

Nick quirked an eyebrow. "You want me to go to Comic Con with you?" Lysander's sparkling blue eyes said it all. And how was Nick supposed to say no to that look? "When is it?"

"The first weekend in August," said Lysander, grinning from ear to ear and practically bouncing in his seat. "Tickets go on sale next week."

"Oh wow," said Nick. "That's not a very long time for me to decide. I don't even know if I have any plans for this summer or anything. My family situation is, well, you know." He shrugged uncomfortably.

Lysander scooted closer to his boyfriend and put his arm around him, leaning his head on his shoulder. "I'd really like for you to come…"

Nick sighed, a smile playing on his lips as he snuggled into the blonde's embrace. "Yeah, okay. I'll write my dad tomorrow and ask him."

"Brilliant!" said Lysander, straightening up and clapping his hands. "Then we can start planning your costume!"

"Hold up, who said anything about a costume?"

*****AMCW****

 _Dear Mother and Father,_

 _I don't want to go to France with you this year_.

Cassie looked down at her letter, shook her head, and vanished the ink before it had completely dried.

 _I will be unable to go to France with you this year._

Easier, but not technically true.

 _Dear Mother and Father,_

 _It was good to hear from you the other day, and I apologise for the delay in my response to your letter. I have been helping my friends Bryan and Aaron study for their OWLs, and my professors seem to have decided to make up for the fact that the Sixth Years do not have OWLs or NEWTs to study for by assigning us what I quite frankly feel to be rather excessive amounts of homework. And it does seem to always hold true that otherwise interesting information becomes inherently less interesting when one is required to learn it for class._

 _Apart from that, things are going well here. I have even managed to exchange a handful of letters with Scorpius and am thrilled to hear about his new job. It certainly does seem to be keeping him busy (and out of trouble), though I am sorry that we will not be seeing as much of him this summer as we would like. Of course, that is only to be expected; adult life does come with responsibilities after all. Lily's shop is also doing well, and I am going to be spending much of the summer working there with her and her new assistant, Harper. To this end, and in light of the fact that Scorpius will also be unable to accompany you, I have decided not to join you on your trip to France this year. I am sure we will spend plenty of other splendid times together over the summer._

 _I miss you both and am looking forward to seeing you at the end of term._

 _Love,_

 _Your Daughter,_

 _Cassiopeia Malfoy_

Cassie folded and sealed the letter. She did miss her parents, very much, and she was looking forward to seeing them. Living with them, though, was another story. Ah well, that was a discussion for another day. She was due to meet the others for a study session by the lake, and she had to stop by the owlery first to send this letter and the ones she had written Lily and Scorpius.

When she got to the lake, the twins were already there with Nick and Jenny.

"Ly, stop that, you're freaking me out. I thought we came here to study."

"We're taking a break!" said the twins cheerfully to Nick, as Lorcan picked up a big stick, more of a log, really, and chucked it toward the center of the lake. It hit the water with a splash and bobbed along on the surface for a second before a giant tentacle appeared, wrapping itself around the piece of timber and dragging it back to the shore to be thrown again. "Besides, we already know it all. Go on, ask us a question if you don't believe us."

Jenny looked up from her Astronomy charts. "What's ninety-six times one-hundred-and-three?"

"A _Herbology_ question," said Lorcan and Lysander.

"Name three common Muggle plants that have magical properties," said Cassiopeia, joining them.

"Lavender, Sage, and Rosemary," said the twins in unison, as Lysander did a fancy spin and threw the piece of wood back across the lake for the giant squid. "Booyah!"

Nick and Jenny looked at each other.

"Your boyfriend is weird."

"So is yours."

"Ew, gross! Lorcan is so not my boyfriend!"

The twins, having apparently grown tired of their game with the oversized cephalopod, trotted back over to the others and threw themselves down on the grass between Jenny and Nick.

"Hi, Cassie, how goes it?"

"Pretty good," she replied, smiling. "Been here long?"

"Only about ten minutes," said the twins. "Bryan and Aaron should be joining us soon."

"Here they come now," said Jenny, pointing toward the front doors of the castle, where a floating stack of books could be advancing toward them down the walk, followed by three figures dressed in school uniforms. "Looks like they have that little first year with them. Oscar, or whatever his name is."

"Oliver," said Cassie. "Hi."

"Hi, Cassie," said the boy with a shy smile. He settled on the grass next to her, his legs tucked underneath him to one side, and pulled out his quill. "Mind if I sit here?"

"Not at all," said the girl, smiling back at him. "Anything I can help with?"

"Nah," said Oliver. "I've got it. Just have to actually do it.."

"I feel ya there," said Aaron, plonking himself down on Cassiopeia's other side. "I wish this homework would do itself."

"That wouldn't be very useful in helping you pass your OWLs," said Bryan.

"Yeah, yeah, you and your big picture."

*****AMCW*****

"I completely blanked on the last question," said Bryan, shaking his head ruefully as he and Aaron walked out of their Transfiguration written exam. "As soon as I turned in my paper I remembered it was right and _then_ left."

"At least you didn't make the mistake in your practical," said Aaron. "I heard last year Allison Montgomery accidentally transfigured her examiner's ears into radishes."

"Do you think those things actually happen, or are they just rumors to scare us into studying?"

"I dunno," said Aaron, shrugging, "but I hope they're true, 'cause radish ears is hilarious."

"Hey," said Lorcan and Lysander, falling into step beside Bryan and Aaron as they headed into the Great Hall for lunch, "now there's an idea."

"Oh no," said Bryan, eyeing the younger boys with apprehension. "Now look what you've done."

The Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws parted ways again toward their respective tables. Cassie was already seated, reading a letter with a serious (and slightly annoyed?) expression on her face.

"Alright, Cassie?" said Aaron, sliding in beside her and grabbing the dish of potatoes.

"Mmhmm," said the girl, folding up the letter and putting in her her pocket. "How was your Transfiguration theoretical?"

"Why do people always ask that?" said Aaron. "I won't know until I see my results, now will I?"

Cassiopeia laughed. "I guess that's a fair point. How do you _think_ you did, then?"

"Alright," said Bryan. "I know I got the last question wrong, but I think I did okay otherwise."

"At least it wasn't your practical."

"That's what Aaron said."

"Don't worry," said the boy in question, "You've still got time to fuck that up too."

Bryan swatted him on the head. "Be useful and pass those potatoes. I'm starved."

 **AN: Whoo! Finally got that done. And that is officially as much as I have written of this story so far. So much more not posting until I've written a full chapter ahead. No clue when the next update will be, but I can guarantee that it WILL be at some point, barring the end of the world or me being hit by a bus or something :P In the meantime, I would LOVE a review or two.**

 **-SQ**


End file.
